Forgotten Anamnesis
by SplendentGoddess
Summary: Instead of just Kagome losing her memories, or just Inuyasha, what would happen if they BOTH lost their memories, together, while traveling just the two of them? Could they fight off youkai? Make it back to Kaede's? Resist each other? Whoops, awkward...
1. Urgent Mission

A/N:

This story was written solely for the heck of it, and takes place during no specific time frame of the canon, except Kikyou is still wandering the earth and Kagome's got her bottle of say...five jewel shards. For simplicity's sake, Naraku is currently 'in hiding' so as not to be an active antagonist, and even though I'm completely disregarding time frame details of the manga, I am making this basically manga-only, meaning no details from the anime, or more specifically the movies, exist in this universe. Also, please note that this story does contain sexual content, which has been toned down in this version to meet M/R rating standards. The MA/X rated version of this story can be found on mediaminer.

Extended A/N: Warning: this story is novel length, so do not complain, you have been warned.

I have received a few comments, I'm going to say mostly from random newcomers and not my regular followers, of the supposedly unnecessary length of this story. This story is not concise, nor did I intend it to be, as it is not my style to skip over what _I _personally feel are _necessary _descriptions going into the characters' thoughts and feelings. The reason I delve so deeply into Inuyasha and Kagome's thoughts on Kikyou and what have you is because their inner most thoughts and feelings are **different** in my various stories, and I wanted to illustrate how they feel in **this** story because to leave such thoughts unsaid is to be left not knowing what is going through their heads. Okay sure, maybe I got a little more wordy than necessary, but this story is my baby and I'm not going to cut my baby's legs off just because some people think she's too tall. Maybe some people like to omit internal monologue and get straight to the action, but that has never, ever been my style and I'm not going to change who I am. I write novels, they just happen to be in fanfiction format. I can understand not expecting to come across a novel when you're just looking for a silly fanfic, but FF _does _display word-count; it's there for a reason, so you can know what you're getting yourselves into. To my fans, my followers, I know you know I'm a Chatty Cathy, LOL; I've never pretended otherwise and you know you love me for it. You wouldn't have me as a Favorite, otherwise. For those of you who are new to my style and don't like novel length stories, well, if you have too short of an attention span to read the entire thing and will end up skipping paragraphs that probably contain pertinent information then maybe you should just skip the entire story; it would be a lesser disservice to the both of us.

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Chapter 1 – Urgent Mission

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"Come on guys, just a little bit further. I can hear running water." Inuyasha called over his shoulder as they rounded a bend on the mountain trail.

From his perch on Miroku's shoulder, Shippou snorted.

"Yeah right, knowing his ears, that water could be over a ri away." he grumbled to himself under his breath.

"And yet you thought I wouldn't hear that?" Inuyasha asked dryly without turning around from his place at the front of the line.

Shippou 'eep'ed and slapped both hands over his mouth while Miroku tried not to laugh at the kit's expense.

"Perhaps if you learned to use your own ears more frequently than your mouth, Shippou, you could better ascertain for yourself how far ahead the river lies." the monk stated quietly.

Shippou didn't reply.

Sango and Kagome, who were taking up the rear, turned and smiled at each other with their hands over their mouths, trying not to laugh.

True to Inuyasha's word, the river wasn't all that much further away, as the three humans of the group soon heard its dance as well. Rounding another bend on the mountain trail, they spied down the slope they stood upon and saw the river in all its glory lying at the bottom between the western and eastern ridges, as it carved its way through stone and sand. That would be where they'd make camp.

But as Inuyasha calculated the winding mountain path ahead of them for a moment, while they paused to stand along the edge of a steep cliff overlooking the river, he realized that despite the water's physical nearness Shippou was actually right in that, if they went the _long _way around, it would probably still be at least another ri's walk before they got down there (approx. 2.44 miles).

The sun was setting faster than he'd like with the western facing mountains, and aside from the kit nobody had uttered a single peep of complaint during the entire walk, knowing they had to reach a body of water because their pouches and Kagome's bottles were all empty, and so for once the hanyou was in a placating mood. Besides, pushing everyone to walk farther than necessary when they were out of water would be highly irresponsible of him, and while he would piss and moan at times that humans were weak, he knew his friends knew that he honestly cared about them.

"What do you guys say to a short cut?" he asked them then, turning to face everyone. "While my feet don't hurt I'm sure yours do, and it ain't like I'm not ready to call it quits for the night."

"Sounds good to me." Kagome agreed right away as she walked past Miroku and Shippou to meet up with Inuyasha.

"What do you say, Kirara?" Sango asked the kitten-sized neko-youkai perched on her shoulder, who answered her mistress by leaping down and transforming at the same time in a brilliant flash of flame that cleared to reveal Kirara's saber form ready and waiting. Turning her head, Kirara gave Sango the best smile she could manage with her feline facial features and roared softly in the equivalent to a meow for a cat that size.

Grinning back, Sango quickly mounted Kirara, followed by Miroku who climbed on behind her while being very careful not to let his hands caress her lovely bottom, lest he be smacked right off of Kirara's back mid-flight. Shippou, eager to get down there, jumped off of Miroku's shoulder while crying out "Finally!" and with a *pop* he began flying down towards the river by himself in his giant pink balloon form.

With Kirara taking to the air next, Kagome and Inuyasha met each other's eyes with a quick smile, and then Kagome turned to maneuver herself behind the hanyou, as he helped hoist her up onto his back, and then they too were off. Even though it was just for the briefest of moments, they both relished the opportunity. Neither of them would ever admit just how much they actually enjoyed traveling that way, Kagome riding on Inuyasha's back. They would each gladly do it much more often than they did, were it not for fear of lacking a proper excuse. It was truly only necessary on certain occasions, after all, such as descending a steep mountain ledge in a single bound. Their trip down was over much too quickly of course, though neither hesitated to separate from one another right away, not as if being in such close contact was awkward but instead because continuing to remain in such close contact for even one lingering second too long _would_ be. Neither knew how the other felt, and so they were terrified of accidentally revealing something they wanted to keep secret.

Setting up camp was a peaceful affair, as Sango began digging out and preparing a firepit while Miroku searched for and gathered dry brush and firewood. Although both the slayer and monk carried on them a flint and fire steel, and Inuyasha could easily get a blaze going using the drilling method with his advanced speed and accuracy, Kagome did the honors with her futuristic, waterproof matches. Why toil over something when the future-born miko's advanced wonders were at their disposal? Collecting water from the river in the metal pot she carried for boiling, Kagome prepared the ramen first, which Inuyasha augmented with fish from the river that Kagome grilled to perfection over the open flame, and then after dinner was served she put another couple of pots of water on to boil for sterilization to replenish their supplies. She figured fish in the water also meant fish poop in the water, and so while it might still be clean enough to drink as it was if the water-to-contaminant ratio was in their favor, why take any chances when they didn't need to?

Going to bed for the night, everyone was lulled into a peaceful sleep by the calming melody of the flowing river, all except for Inuyasha, of course, who stayed awake to keep watch. Nothing happened during the night, and the next morning after a breakfast of more fish everyone packed up and then decided to follow the river's path until they came upon a village or settlement. Following the water, they knew it was only a matter of time before they'd find other humans, and with there having been no sign of Naraku's whereabouts lately they had taken to seeking out towns and villages in areas they hadn't visited before with the hope of the locals having heard about something, anything that seemed out of the ordinary to them.

"Come on, there's fish in this river, so once we get out of the mountains there's bound to be a fishing village somewhere downstream." Inuyasha stated as he led his friends through the trees.

The journey was mostly peaceful, except for a random little mountain oni that tried to attack them for the jewel shards Kagome carried, which was easily dispatched by Inuyasha's claws after it refused to take the hanyou up on his gracious offer of letting it live if it left them alone. Refusing to heed such an obvious warning in its aggressive desire for the jewel shards, Inuyasha had no choice but to put it out of its misery. That happened from time to time, random youkai showing up that had been lured by Kagome's jewel shards, especially now that Naraku had gone into hiding and most lower youkai had come _out _of hiding as a result, but there was really nothing much that they could do about it outside of defending themselves whenever such attacks did happen. Although Kagome keeping the shards purified did keep _most _lower youkai away, as many more would be mindlessly drawn to the shards if they were tainted with evil, the gems were still enticing to the few youkai who could sense past their purity to realize just how powerful the crystals actually were, and how powerful they would make _them_ once they possessed them. Truth be told even Inuyasha could smell how tantalizing the jewel shards actually were, although he knew better and didn't have any plans of going anywhere near them. They smelled good, but he thought of them like poisonous berries, which also smelled good, and tasted good, but would kill you in short order if you gave in to their allure. After having experienced first hand what it would truly mean for him to become a full youkai, he didn't want that anymore. It had never been his desire to turn into a bloodthirsty monster, despite having told Miroku once that he'd never claimed to want to be a _nice _youkai. The truth was, he'd thought for sure that his heart wouldn't change. He'd wanted only to be stronger, like his pure youkai father before him, who had still had a kind heart and had fallen in love with a human woman. Inuyasha wanted to be _that _kind of pureblooded youkai, not the sadistic butcher he had turned into on rare occasion. If there was even the _slightest _chance that the jewel would turn him into _that_...and he knew damn well that the jewel loved to twist and corrupt people's desires and so it was actually pretty damn likely that it _would _turn him into that...then he wanted absolutely no part of it.

He was just relieved that he hadn't used the jewel to turn himself human.

It sounded cruel to say, he knew, considering how he had once been willing to do so for Kikyou's sake, but looking at it logically, Naraku would have still existed regardless, and so assuming he hadn't tricked them _right _when he had, and he and Kikyou had managed to use the jewel as planned, then even assuming the wish truly had been pure and would have purified the jewel rather than tainting it with some unforeseen dark twist, then Naraku would have merely slaughtered the both of them in his anger, and then he would've be free to reign over the countryside, yes not as physically strong if the jewel were truly gone, but still just as evil as ever, and even more angered for knowing he had lost his chance at the jewel. Who knew how many people he would have slaughtered in his rage? Everyone from Kaede's village would have been a goner, at the very least. And what if turning him human _hadn't _purified the jewel out of existence? Kikyou had only believed that it would; it had been a good guess but nothing more. What if Naraku had killed them both and then taken possession of the complete Shikon no Tama? After seeing first hand what the dark hanyou was capable of with only a portion of the jewel in his possession, Inuyasha didn't even want to _think_ about what he could, or would do if he ever got a hold of the entire thing.

Then there was the possibility that trying to turn himself human with the thing wouldn't have even been a pure wish to begin with, and who really knew how that could have backfired, Naraku or no Naraku? Yes, it had been an honest sacrifice on his part, but not entirely. Yes, he hated being human, and yes, he had originally wanted to become fully _youkai _so deciding to turn human instead would have been an incredible sacrifice in that regard. But when it really boiled down to it, he'd hated being hanyou the most, and he'd been looking forward to turning pure _anything _simply so that he could have a place where he belonged. It hadn't been his first choice, but hey, going that route instead also would have come with the fabulous bonus of a loving wife, so he would be lying if he said the wish hadn't been a teeny bit selfish, at least in part. If it meant gaining Kikyou, then hell yeah he would have done whatever it took to acquire that goal, and _that _thought could have very easily tainted the jewel. He hadn't wanted to possess her like Onigumi had, he had genuinely loved her and had only wanted her with him for that reason, from the standpoint of feeling love for her in his heart, but nevertheless he had _wanted_, plain and simple, and had been planning on using his wish on the jewel to _acquire _what he wanted,and that equated to selfishness, no ands, ifs or buts. Maybe it wasn't really that black and white in real life, but black and white was _exactly _how the jewel worked; there was no gray area, a wish was either selfish or it wasn't.

Keeping that thought in mind, he also knew that Kikyou's desire to turn him human hadn't really been 100% purehearted, either. Yes, she had loved him, even as a hanyou, though perhaps it was true she would never have permitted herself to _be_ with him as a hanyou because of her miko training. He couldn't read her mind and so he wouldn't pretend to know her opinion when it came to that one minor detail, especially since, when it really boiled down to it, he knew that it didn't even really matter, anyway, because as the Shikon Miko she hadn't been free to be with _anyone_, youkai blood or no. She had wanted to purify the jewel out of existence to be rid of it, so that she could then choose to put her other miko duties aside and become an ordinary woman, and she had believed that using the jewel to turn him human would be a pure enough task to accomplish her goal. What could be more pure than 'saving' a hanyou, right? Yes, she had offered it to him under the guise of it being her gift to him, her offering him another way out of his life as a hanyou, because she could have never condoned his use of the jewel to become fully youkai, but truly, it had just been a means to an end more than anything else. Even knowing that, even as she'd admitted that the jewel would most likely be gone from such a wish and that it would mean she was free, he had been willing to go through with it, _especially_ for her sake, another sacrifice on his part, perhaps, though it hadn't counterbalanced his own eagerness. He'd wanted her free from the jewel too, after all, so that they could then be together; it had been a win/win situation in his eyes. And whatever her true thoughts on his youkai blood he did believe that she had meant well, that it had come from a place of love, wanting to rid him of his demonic half, thinking to purge him of his taint, and so misguided or not her heart had sort of been in the right place. He would not judge her on any negative feelings she might have had for his youkai blood, since looking past his youkai half to see him as the man he could become had still been more kindness at that time than anyone else had ever thought to offer him after his mother's death, but despite that she _had _been acting selfishly in wanting to rid herself of her responsibility to the jewel, and _that_ thought, alone, could have _very_ easily tainted the wish. He could have turned into a hundred and fifty year old human and died instantly, or she could have been robbed of her miko powers altogether as another way of becoming 'ordinary' while the jewel simultaneously tainted and then without the ability to purify it all hope would have been lost. And those were just two possible examples...who knew what could have happened, really? Kikyou had thought she'd found the perfect solution, but now looking back on it, he wasn't so sure.

Nobody was perfect, not even Kikyou, and he understood that now.

Of course, Kagome accepted _all _of him, including his youkai half, and sometimes Inuyasha found himself wishing the two of them could be more than just friends, but he was grateful for her friendship either way. He had the sinking suspicion that, should she truly feel that way about him, that she _would _be willing to 'be' with him as a hanyou; she'd proven time and time again that his youkai blood, and physical features, were not disgusting to her. But he wouldn't waste time longing for what could never be, and he _was _truly grateful to have Kagome as a friend. _Nobody _was perfect, but if he had to pick somebody, then Kagome definitely came the closest. He felt horrible for how he used to insult her back in the beginning, comparing her to her preincarnation, but he knew Kagome knew that he saw her for herself those days, and not as some kind of replacement for or copy of Kikyou. It wasn't Kagome's fault she hadn't been a very good shot with a bow at the beginning, having never fired an arrow before in her life, and all things considered, she'd actually picked it up _incredibly _fast, perhaps because a part of her soul remembered it from her 'past' life, or perhaps not, but either way, considering Kagome had never had any _formal _training as a miko, and hadn't even known youkai _existed _until her fifteenth birthday, he'd say that she was doing pretty damn good so far. But even more important to him than her newfound prowess with a bow, the simple fact that she wanted to be his friend, that she _treated _him like an _equal, _meant more to him than anything else ever could. Even when they argued she _insulted _him like an equal, too, calling him a jerk if he was acting like one but never once slinging any insults that had to do with his appearance or mixed heritage.

Okay sure, she did have the rosary command, but Kagome didn't use the beads to control him, she used them to prevent _him _from controlling _her_, or at least that's what she'd used them for for the first couple of months or so. He knew for sure that he would have destroyed the well that one time if it hadn't been for the kotodama, and of course in the _very_ beginning he would have definitely run off with the jewel if she and Kaede hadn't stopped him right when they had, probably immediately turning into a cold-hearted murderer once he'd swallowed the damn thing. Even though he wouldn't have actually killed Kagome to get the jewel from her, there was certainly no guarantee that he wouldn't have turned around and killed her immediately afterwards, once it'd warped his mind, especially since she looked like Kikyou and at that time he'd harbored a speck of hatred for the dead miko. Looking back on it now he shuddered at the very thought, and he shuddered even more to think of what might have possibly happened the first couple of times he'd transformed into a full youkai even without the jewel's assistance, if Kagome hadn't had the beads at those times to subdue him. No...he needed the rosary for those few rare occasions, and truth be told she didn't really abuse the thing all that much otherwise; if he said something totally heartless and she slammed him into the ground for it, well...he had actually been the one to hurt her first, then, and so he supposed he deserved it at those times, too. He was getting better at watching what he said, and so the truth was that she really didn't subdue him very often any more. Sango definitely slapped Miroku more frequently than Kagome _osuwari'd _him those days.

Besides, putting all that aside, there was also the working hypothesis that it was his magical bond to Kagome via the beads that enabled him to travel through the well to her time, and he _definitely _didn't want to risk losing his ability to travel through the Bone Eater's well. Maybehe would still be able to travel to Kagome's time escorted, if he went with her, just like how Yura's hairs had managed to slip through with her that one time, but then that would mean he'd be stuck in her time the entire time she needed to be there so that they could then return together, otherwise he'd be stuck on his side unable to retrieve her, forced to wait for her return. And _Kagome _couldn't go through the well without either him or a jewel shard. What if she ever accidentally went through the well by herself without any shards? Then that'd be it, they'd be screwed! The beads were definitely staying.

Kotodama or no kotodama, he knew that Kagome truly did think of him as an equal and as a friend, and he could honestly admit, at least to himself, that he thought of her the same way. Well, okay, he actually cared about her more deeply than 'just' friends, truth be told he loved her, but it had started out as friendship, and a friendship that he'd been surprised at first to find himself willingly participating in. He had never fully trusted _anyone_ after his mother before meeting Kagome, not even Kikyou, otherwise he wouldn't have so easily believed that she could turn against him as he'd thought she had. There was no point dwelling on the past, though, and Kikyou _was _his past. He wished that Kagome could be his future, though he wouldn't dwell on the fact that she would be leaving him one day, either. Instead he chose to focus on the here and now, and right now, all he cared about was finding Naraku and killing that bastard. He owed Kikyou at least that much. She had died as a result of his lack of trust in her, and yes, she hadn't trusted him either, and yes, she had attacked him and sealed him to the Goshinboku, but regardless of what anybody else thought on the matter _he _felt that he at the very least owed it to Kikyou to avenge her death, to make that bastard pay for what he'd done. Maybe Kikyou's death wasn't really his _fault_, Inuyasha would concede, but still, he _could _have prevented it if he'd stuck around, staying closer to the village, if he'd been paying attention and had sensed Naraku being born. He should have protected her, and he had failed her, and _that _was why he blamed himself for her death. He had deserved for her to fire her arrow at him, as payment for his failure, and now that the fates had released him from the prison she had sent him to, in order to earn his freedom that meant he needed to exact his revenge on he who was _truly _to blame.

Yes, earn his freedom. He didn't want to die, although he'd been honest when he'd told Kagome that he had to risk his life for Kikyou's sake. _Risk _his life, because he might very well die trying to defeat Naraku, but if that should be the case then so be it, he would deserve death as punishment for his second failure. But he no longer planned on sacrificing himself to Kikyou like an offering, for her to drag him with her into Hell as her own means of revenge. Actually, he had never planned on doing that in the first place; she had cast a spell on him at that time, although he wouldn't blame her for that either because at that time she had still been under the impression that he had honestly been the one to kill her, that he had betrayed her, that the entire thing had been a trick and his talk of his love for her all lies. He couldn't blame her spirit for harboring such hatred under those circumstances. Yes, he had told Kaede once that he would follow Kikyou into Hell if that was her wish, but he'd mostly been speaking from his grief and guilt at that moment, although truth be told if Kikyou still up and demanded his death as the _only _way to appease her soul he would probably do it; his honor simply wouldn't let him ignore the responsibility, not to keep a promise, but to end Kikyou's suffering, whatever the cost. He wouldn't do it if it meant walking away from a future with Kagome, but that was just a pipe dream, anyway, since he knew she'd be leaving him one day, and so then what would he have to lose? Oh yeah, his own life. He _didn't_ want to die, and he knew that Kagome didn't want him to die, either, so he'd do whatever he could to live for her sake, if he could, loneliness or no. Fortunately, now that Kikyou knew the truth about Naraku, she had since told him that while her hatred for him still existed within her, because she had died with those feelings in her heart and therefore as the specter she was those feelings could not go away, she still knew logically that he was not to blame, and that she would no longer act upon her misguided feelings of hatred towards him. She would not drag him with her into Hell, because she had only wanted his death for hers when she had honestly believed him to be her murderer. It was now Naraku's death that she wanted, and she would work with Inuyasha as an ally towards that goal. She had also since apologized for her apparent betrayal in attacking Kagome that one time, stealing her jewel shards and giving them to Naraku, but she'd explained that she had done that because she believed the only way to kill Naraku would be to purify both him and the sacred jewel together. It was a good plan and likely still the only way to rid the world of both of them, she had just not realized how much more powerful possessing that much of the jewel would make Naraku in the mean time, and how much more destruction he could cause as a result.

Kikyou _definitely _wasn't perfect, and Inuyasha had taken her down from her pedestal in his mind a long time ago.

But even though he no longer loved her like he used to that didn't mean he suddenly hated her, and so he would go to speak with her whenever she summoned him. Those days all they spoke about were ideas of how to defeat Naraku and where to possibly find his hiding place. In fact right now he knew that Kikyou was scouring a different part of the countryside; they had formulated a plan to split up and check in two different directions. She would not seek him out again until she had news, although occasionally she would send a single shinidamachuu to see if _they_ had discovered anything. Inuyasha had since informed the rest of the Inu-tachi of this arrangement, and so they all knew that a single shinidamachuu appearing was not a summons from Kikyou but merely an inquiry on their status. Without walking away from the others Inuyasha would simply tell the soul collector whatever information they had, if any, and it would then fly off to relay the news to its mistress. The last time had been just a couple of days ago, and so they knew they wouldn't be seeing another soul collector for at least a couple of weeks, unless Kikyou herself had word of Naraku and sought them out because of it.

Of course, it had been awkward for Kagome when Inuyasha had first told them about his and Kikyou's arrangement, using her soul collectors as messengers of a sort, but whether she liked it or not it was admittedly a good idea, because it enabled Kikyou to keep searching in her own area without having to take the time to venture to them just to risk finding out they had no information either. A shinidamachuu might be a literal shining reminder of the undead miko and everything she represented, but at least it was _not _the undead miko herself, and so Kagome would much rather deal with a soul collector checking up on them a couple of times a month than the woman who owned Inuyasha's heart.

Watching the hanyou who was walking just a few paces ahead of her, Kagome sighed quietly, her thoughts drifting to a couple of days ago, when the latest shinidamachuu had graced them with its presence. She supposed it wasn't so bad, the arrangement Inuyasha and Kikyou had made. Despite her personal feelings where the undead miko was concerned, Kagome was smart enough to know that they needed all the help against Naraku they could get, and truth be told, she was really over her jealousy of Kikyou those days anyway, for the most part at least, knowing that she couldn't compete with her predecessor for Inuyasha's affection; she just didn't care for the constant reminder of that fact. She knew that Inuyasha cared for her as a friend, though; she knew she wasn't just his 'shard detector'. They'd undeniably grown much closer than the strained partnership they had forged at the very beginning, and for that she was definitely grateful. He'd even told her to her face once that he enjoyed her company, that he felt happy and lighthearted in her presence, and that admittance alone meant more to Kagome than anything. Yes, he had decided that his obligation to Kikyou had to come first, but he hadn't cast her aside because of that; when she had asked him if he would let her stay he had allowed it, and honestly, he had looked more than a little relieved. It warmed her heart to know that even though he wasn't _in love _with her, even though _that _privilege belonged to Kikyou, Inuyasha did still love her as a friend and wanted her in his life in that capacity. Above all else, Kagome wanted Inuyasha to be happy, and she was very glad that she could give that to him. She didn't know if he knew her feelings for him went beyond friendship or not, although she doubted it, but she did know that it didn't really matter since he didn't feel the same way, but that was all right with her. If you truly loved something, then let it go, right? So she would let him go, so to speak, go to meet up and speak with Kikyou whenever she came around. He would always come back to her afterwards, and that little truth gave _Kagome _areason to smile, thinking again on that expression from her time. At least she did have Inuyasha's friendship; that part of him _did _belong to her.

Suddenly, Miroku stopped walking, pulling both the hanyou and miko out of their respective wandering thoughts.

"What is it, Houshi-sama?" Sango asked.

"I feel a demonic aura approaching our location." Miroku spoke up once he was certain his feeling was correct. He thought the aura might be familiar to him, but it was still too far away to be certain.

Inuyasha sniffed the air at the monk's words and Kagome tried to see if she could sense any jewel shards, but whatever was approaching them was apparently downwind and didn't have any shards in its possession. Kagome thought she might actually feel a demonic aura getting closer, if she _really _concentrated, but Miroku was far more sensitive to detecting that sort of thing than she was with her very limited amount of spiritual training, at least when the aura wasn't tainted with jyaki. She could easily sense and recognize Inuyasha's aura, of course, but his youki was exceptionally strong and after having spent so much time with him she had simply learned the feel of his aura all on her own. She really couldn't feel weaker auras all that well like Miroku could, only stronger ones, though heck, even _Sango_ could sense _strong _demonic auras, as that had been a standard part of taijiya training, to become sensitive to the feel of demonic energy even without possessing spiritual reiki, and the slayer felt no such negativity on the approach, either.

Just because whatever was approaching them didn't feel tainted with jyaki, though, that wasn't to say they needn't keep their guard up. After all, that yama-oni from before hadn't had a very strong or evil aura, either, having been a lowly, relatively harmless thing – at least to skilled fighters like them – that had been lured to them by Kagome's jewel shards.

_Heck, even little Shippou had been after my shards in the beginning, and he's not in the least bit evil_ ... Kagome thought, as she tightened her grip on her bow but did not yet draw an arrow. She didn't want to waste any if whatever it was was weak enough for Inuyasha to easily dispatch on his own.

Fortunately, as soon as the approaching youkai got close enough for Miroku to recognize its particular youki signature, the holy man exhaled in relief, a gesture that quickly put everyone else at ease as well as Kagome relaxed her grip on her bow and Inuyasha released Tessaiga's hilt.

"It's just Hachi." the monk stated, cluing everyone else in.

Although knowing who it was was calming, in a sense, because everyone knew they certainly had nothing to fear from Miroku's long time tanuki companion, the houshi was still worried over what it could possibly be that had caused Hachimon to seek them out like this. They didn't have very long to wait to find out, as a giant flying raccoon tail, or at least that's what Kagome thought he kind of looked like, quickly appeared above them from over the eastern mountain ridge. Coming in for a landing, Hachi got as close to the trees as he could before with a *pop* he turned back into his tanuki form, landing on his feet from the twenty-foot drop with an "Oomph."

"Keh, nice of you to drop in." Inuyasha joked at the fat raccoon-dog's expense, having picked up the modern slang from his time with Kagome.

Ignoring the quip, Hachi stood hunched over for a moment with his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. Inuyasha just shook his head; the sorry excuse for a canine could certainly stand to lose a few pounds. However, the hanyou was very aware that Hachimon wouldn't have traveled all the way out there unless it was important, so as Miroku asked his friend what was the matter and if something had happened to Mushin Inuyasha cocked both ears forward to catch the tanuki's answer.

Still a bit winded from his journey, as it had taken him a few days to search out and find a lingering trace of Miroku's aura and then catch up with them, Hachi quickly explained to Miroku and the others that while Mushin himself and the temple were unharmed, there was a terrible evil aura that had started infiltrating the local village that rested at the base of the mountain where the temple resided. Nobody had started acting completely possessed, yet, although it did seem to be affecting the villagers as it was putting everyone into a negative frame of mind. Everyone was still themselves and knew who they were and knew who their neighbors were and seemed to have control over their own minds and bodies, but yet, fights had been breaking out, and men who had been friends since childhood were suddenly declaring hatred on one another for no apparent reason. Mushin had discovered this effect quickly, when he had ventured into the village with concern upon first sensing the evil aura, only to be met with uncharacteristic skepticism whenever he tried to tell anyone that their village was under attack. "Go home old man." had been most people's responses to his concerned words, and trying to slap an ofuda on one individual had actually resulted in that man taking a swing at the monk, although he'd successfully blocked the man's hit with his shakujou. The villager had then pealed the ofuda off of himself in disgust and stomped away, completely unaffected by Mushin's efforts. The situation was so confounding that Mushin had even, temporarily, given up his saké, and you _knew _something bad was going on when Mushin decided he had to stay sober in order to deal with it. The monk didn't know what to make of what was going on, although it didn't feel like Naraku to him, as Mushin was familiar with the feel of the dark hanyou's jyaki from his experience tending to Miroku and his late father's wind tunnels.

Sango and Kagome both sagged a bit at that last bit of information, unsure if they were relieved or disappointed. On the one hand it would have been horrible to hear that Naraku was in the process of doing something wicked to the local villagers near Mushin's temple, but on the other hand they would have relished in the opportunity to face off against the dark hanyou if he had truly come out of hiding. Even if it were a trap specifically designed to lure them into his snare they would've gladly obeyed Naraku's summons in an attempt at eradicating the dark hanyou once and for all. As it was, though, they knew they still had to go in and investigate, no matter what. Even ignoring the slim possibility that Naraku might actually still be involved somehow, if he had merely enlisted the aid of something else that possessed a different type aura and therefore Mushin had not recognized the signature of Naraku's jyaki simply because the dark hanyou himself wasn't there, they still had to go check it out regardless because they would never turn down any request for aid from a village in need, and _especially _not when it was the village that sat at the base of the mountain that housed Mushin's Buddhist temple, where Miroku had grown up. Even though Miroku's family had not originally been from that village, and he himself had never lived there, instead always living with Mushin in the temple, he still considered that village to be a home of sorts. It was where he would go as a young monk in training to beg for money for the temple, and where he and Mushin would acquire their food and any other items they needed. Even though when the temple had been in its prime they would receive visitors from all over the region, it was only those local villagers that now kept the place from completely falling apart. It was _their _temple, in a way, and now, they were in trouble. Yes, it was possible that it actually _was _a trap of Naraku's, so they would not dismiss that possibility and allow themselves to be caught by surprise, even though it was just as likely that Naraku was not involved at all and it was something else entirely, but either way, they would do whatever they could to help the local villagers, first and foremost. If Mushin had sent Hachimon to search for them, then that alone was testament to the fact that the situation was more serious than what the aging holy man could handle on his own. Yes, they would definitely go help Mushin's villagers, without delay. Even Inuyasha didn't protest.

"Keh, you up for the return journey, old man?" he asked the tanuki with a surprisingly compassionate edge to his voice.

Hachi bristled in the face of the hanyou's supposed pity, as Inuyasha had known he would, hiding a secret smirk as the raccoon-dog, looking totally insulted, said "Of course! I'm not some weakling!"

With no clearing large enough for Hachi to stretch out on the ground in his transformed state for the others to climb on board he leaped up through the trees until with one final jump he cleared their tops and transformed back into his transportation mode mid-air. Miroku, Sango and Shippou quickly reached Hachi via Kirara, who landed on Hachi's back and allowed her passengers to dismount before then transforming herself back into her kitten form, while Kagome and Inuyasha reached Hachi via the same method the tanuki had taken to gain his altitude. With the situation so serious the hanyou and miko didn't even allow themselves their usual second of enjoyment regarding the physical contact; their thoughts were focused solely on needing to get to that village and finding out what was going on.

With everyone settled on his back and secure enough in their balance that they were in no danger of falling off, Hachi quickly lifted himself higher into the sky and took off towards the east, towards Mushin's temple. Even at his top speed it would take them a few hours to get there; Hachi just prayed that they weren't too late, since it had actually taken him a few days to find them, not having known for sure where the Inu-tachi was located and having had to search them out via mental probing, as he knew well the feel of Miroku's reiki from their years of close friendship.

To occupy themselves during the flight, everyone engaged in conversation regarding what could possibly be happening in the village, discussing all of the various possibilities and what different types of youkai, ghosts or other phenomenon could cause this reaction in normal humans. Since Mushin had remained unaffected himself even while in the heart of the village, it was safe to assume that whatever it was could not affect his mind because of his holy powers. Hachi also told them that he too had gone into the village to investigate, incognito of course as most people would automatically react negatively to a youkai walking amongst them, and whatever was affecting the villagers had not bothered him either. This meant that the Inu-tachi believed they should all be relatively safe from whatever it was that was going on, as the only one among them with no youki or reiki was Sango, and having undergone years of intense taijiya training she was fairly resilient herself when it came to most types of demonic possessions or mental suggestions. She wasn't impervious, but she would do her best to keep her wits about her, and Kagome stated in that moment that she believed that even just knowing the facts going in would be a big help for the slayer, because even if she started to feel a little cranky or bitchy for no apparent reason she should at least be able to tell herself that it was just a result of whatever it was that was affecting everybody and therefore do her best to ignore it.

Inuyasha wanted to make a joke about PMS, but quickly thought better of it, keeping his thoughts to himself. While he knew that no matter how hot headed she could get at times Kagome would never be stupid enough to say 'it' while they were all riding high up in the air on Hachimon, he also knew that he'd be in for it as soon as they touched down, from _both _women.

About an hour or so into the flight Inuyasha was pulled from their back and forth hypotheses as an unexpected and disturbing scent reached his nose, and he quickly told his companions, "Hey, I smell human blood, a _lot _of it."

Alarmed, everyone immediately peered over the edge of Hachi's body, checking out the landscape below, but there was nothing that seemed out of the ordinary...yet. Then the sound of bloodcurdling screams reached the youkai's ears, and Shippou suddenly gasped and cowered into Sango's embrace while Inuyasha's ears flattened to his head. Kirara was instantly on high alert as she glanced around nervously while everyone also felt Hachi's muscles tense up underneath them.

"What is it?" Kagome asked hesitantly, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

"Somebody's getting butchered somewhere. I can smell oni too now." Inuyasha reluctantly stated.

"I believe it is coming from that direction..." Miroku stated while pointing in the direction in which they were headed, as he could now feel a faint but evil demonic aura, which was getting stronger by the minute.

"We need to check it out." Sango insisted, rubbing Shippou's head in the hopes of calming the boy.

"But Mushin-sama said very specifically to bring you back without delay!" Hachi protested adamantly. "Who knows how worse the situation has gotten in the last few days?"

Everyone felt torn. So okay sure, there was a village somewhere down below being attacked at that present moment, but that happened all the time, right? It was the Warring States era, after all, so if it wasn't a youkai it was a gang of human bandits, or soldiers, or _something_. The Inu-tachi tried their best to help people in need, but they couldn't be everywhere at once, and they were already heading towards a village that was under _some _sort of an attack. Hachi was right, who knew how much worse it'd gotten in the last few days? What if the villagers were about to start killing each other? What if they already had?! No...they couldn't dawdle, they had to get to Mushin's as quickly as possible...and yet, that just seemed so heartless. They couldn't just ignore these other villagers, either. What to do...what to do...

Then Kagome gasped, and called out "I sense a jewel shard!"

Miroku and Sango's eyes widened.

Furrowing her brow, the miko concentrated and added, "But, it doesn't really feel all that tainted."

"Keh...that explains that, then." Inuyasha stated. "Probably one of the humans has it, and that oni is going crazy trying to find it."

Kagome worried her lower lip at that, wanting to agree with Sango that they needed to check the situation out, _especially _since there was a jewel shard involved, and yet a part of her also still kind of agreed with Hachi in that they had to get to Mushin's ASAP. Yes there were people in trouble here, but they were already traveling to help other people in trouble, and they didn't know for certain that the situation at Mushin's village hadn't escalated dramatically in the last few days. It was quite possible there could be no time to lose, and that stopping here, while saving lives, could mean deaths over there that wouldn't have occurred otherwise. But Kagome felt extra responsible for these villagers because there was a jewel shard involved. In a roundabout way, it was her fault they were being attacked right now. That oni could very well have never bothered them if it hadn't been for her accidentally shattering the jewel. She tried not to dwell on the guilt she felt for that act, since a few select positives had come about from her having shattered the jewel, as well, such as her developing friendship with Inuyasha throughout their mission to collect the shards, but besides all that, there were people being killed _right now, _and yet...the situation at Mushin's could also possibly be life or death...or it also might not be. What should they do? What if they left these villagers to fend for themselves and then got to Mushin's and the situation wasn't all that serious yet? Then they would have condemned these innocent people to a needless death. Could they really gamble with people's lives like that? But wouldn't hoping that the situation at Mushin's was mild enough that they could stop here be gambling with _their _lives, instead? Gah!

Easily reading Kagome's inner turmoil on her face, when the unfortunate village came into view as they flew by overhead Miroku ordered Hachi to at least slow down for a moment so that they could better assess the situation from the air. If it appeared as if everyone had already perished and that all that would be left for them to do now was to kill the attacking youkai and take care of the dead, then Miroku would agree with Hachi that continuing onward towards Mushin's village without delay was more important. Even knowing there was a jewel shard involved somehow, he felt an incredible drive from deep within him to get to his aging sensei as quickly as possible and make sure that he was still all right and that whatever was happening in the village had not yet affected him. Taking care of the dead was not more important that saving lives, if everyone at this village had already fallen.

As they observed the scene unfolding below them, however, everyone cringed to realize that there were in fact quite a number of villagers still alive, as everyone ran everywhere, trying to avoid the rampaging oni that seemed hell bent on destroying every single structure it could get its hands on. It was definitely looking for the jewel shard, apparently too weak to sense its precise location. There were quite a few bodies lying about, but it looked like the number of living still greatly outweighed the number of fallen.

"Oh dear..." Sango voiced, unconsciously reaching for the strap of Hiraikotsu that was snug across her shoulder. "Okay, we _have _to help them." she stated with conviction. Her taijiya training would not permit her to let these innocents suffer on a gamble that the other situation was just as dire when it might not be. They were right here, right now, and those people right below them needed their help.

"But Mushin-sama said-!" Hachi started to protest again, only to be interrupted by Inuyasha.

"Feh, okay, we'll do this." he started, flashing Kagome a look to let her know that by 'we' he meant her and himself, before then directing his attention to Miroku, Sango, Shippou and Kirara. "You lot keep headin' towards that village, they really might need you without delay. Me 'n' Kagome can handle this guy ourselves; he's big 'n' ugly but not all that powerful. I know my way to Mushin's from here so we'll meet up with you guys as soon as we can. In the meantime, it sounds like their problem ain't somethin' I can help with, anyway. Can't go blasting the warped villagers with Tessaiga. They need you, Houshi..." Inuyasha addressed Miroku specifically, looking him in the eye, "...and these guys down below need me 'n' Kagome."

That Inuyasha had so confidently mentioned the two of them as a fighting pair, Kagome's heart swelled with pride. Miroku immediately nodded his agreement that it seemed the best solution, under the circumstances, and Sango also agreed that if Kagome and Inuyasha were going to take care of this oni that she could then go on with Miroku. She was sure that the two of them together could probably take care of whatever ghost or youkai was behind the attack on Mushin's village, just as she knew that that oni down below wasn't toopowerful for the hanyou and miko to bring down on their own. Kagome had over half a quiver of arrows, and truth be told, Inuyasha could probably handle the oni all by himself, so having Kagome as backup was definitely all the help he needed. Under the circumstances, splitting up was definitely the best solution.

"Agreed. Be careful, my friends. See you soon." Miroku stated, before telling Hachi to lower himself closer to the ground until they were at an altitude that Inuyasha could safely jump from with Kagome on his back.

Once they were low enough the hanyou and miko were off, literally, and then Hachi quickly lifted himself back up and continued onward at top speed, not even allowing Miroku and Sango a second to watch as Inuyasha and Kagome came in for their landing, although they were not worried. They knew that their friends could take care of themselves. Immediately, their focus was back on Mushin's village and what could possibly be happening to the locals there. It would still take them a few hours to reach the village, so they would try their best to go over all of the possibilities so that by the time they got there they'd already have a working plan of attack in mind to diagnose and treat the problem. Sango and Miroku's goal was to already have whatever was the culprit, if not already fully dealt with, then at least already identified with a plan in the works for how to deal with it once their friends arrived. It would probably take Inuyasha and Kagome over a full day to catch up to them, assuming they stopped for the night, and assuming the hanyou ran with the miko on his back the rest of the time. Inuyasha's top traveling speed was honestly not as fast as Hachi's top speed during flight, and having to run over uneven mountainous terrain would make it take longer than flying through the air even if he _could_ travel at the same speed. Still, the hanyou was _way _faster than a human – or mortal dog, for that matter – and because of his demonic endurance he could also maintain his top long distance speed almost indefinitely, never slowing over a long period of time. Presumably he was capable of _eventually _tiring out simply from running, while possessing no battle wounds, but none of his friends had yet to witness the phenomenon. He could of course sprint at faster bursts of speed than his long distance running speed, any living creature could, and if he tried to push _that _speed for too long he might very well overexert himself, but being canine he was designed for long distance running and they knew he would settle into the best speed to get him and Kagome there as quickly as possible without it putting him at risk of tiring out.

They were grateful for their friend's demonic endurance. While they hoped that whatever was happening at Mushin's village would turn out to be something they could handle on their own, they still wanted their friends to join them there as quickly as possible just in case they did end up needing Inuyasha and Kagome's help. Hopefully dealing with that oni would not be too time consuming.

oooOooo

Bracing for impact, Inuyasha landed running, and Kagome was not jarred too badly, having become fully accustomed to hanyou-back-riding during times of extreme stress by that point. The local villagers that were in the nearby area where they descended immediately gave them a wide birth, having noticed that they'd jumped down from some sort of giant flying youkai. At first they were terrified of Kagome and Inuyasha's appearance, and rightfully so. How often did superheros actually come to the rescue? Surely this demonic man and his strangely dressed companion were additional villains, right?

The villagers were quickly proven wrong when Kagome, without hesitation, notched and fired an arrow that sailed with bright purifying light to hit the lumbering forest oni square in the shoulder, impairing the use of its left arm.

Inuyasha could hear gasped exclamations of astonishment and praise from the villagers, things like "She's a miko!" and "Praise the kami!" As was often the case whenever dealing with humans that were under attack from some type of youkai that trumped him in the 'ugly monster' department, Inuyasha's slightly inhuman appearance in comparison was immediately disregarded by the locals, except for the fact that being youkai meant that he had special powers, which they were actually grateful for if they knew he was on _their _side. Fortunately, whenever people saw he and Kagome together, it was much more frequently decided by the locals that he must be a good guy for being with her – even if they believed so because they saw and recognized the beads he wore and correctly assumed it meant she held a magic spell over him – rather than them automatically assuming her a kuromiko for associating with youkai. No kuromiko could fire a _purifying_ arrow.

"Please help us!" a random village woman begged, actually meeting Inuyasha's eyes, and he offered her his best reassuring smile, keeping his mouth closed so as not to spook her by baring his fangs.

"That's why we're here." he told her then, before quickly barking out orders for everyone to get back, out of the way. It briefly flashed through his mind that his friendship with Kagome really had changed him, because the old him honestly never used to give a rat's ass about helping random humans. What had they ever done for him, right? And although he would have volunteered to fight this particular oni anyway since there was a jewel shard somewhere within the village, despite the shard he honestly, truly felt the desire to help these people, and it was a warm, inviting feeling. It reminded him of his youthful innocence, when his mother had still been alive, and how he had used to view the world before learning it was full of assholes.

Shaking it off, he went to join Kagome, who had a bead drawn on the oni with her next arrow, though it hadn't yet tried to attack her, apparently sizing her up. It could undoubtedly sense the jewel shards she carried, but now that it'd also had a taste of her purifying powers it was most likely trying to decide whether or not they were worth the risk.

It was a _very _tempting risk, though, and the forest oni, which sort of looked like a brown Stay Puff Marshmellow Man with tree bark for skin and glowing red eyes, was clearly about to make a go for them. Kagome wasn't afraid, having known that firing at the thing would make her an immediate target. Her goal had been achieved with that arrow in that the oni had stopped its ransacking of the village, now focusing all of its attention solely on her, and so the surviving villagers were all able to successfully get out of the way now, running to someplace far behind where she and Inuyasha stood. She wasn't worried for her own safety with her hanyou guardian standing proudly beside her. Now it was just a matter of how best to deal with the oni without causing even more damage to the village than what had already been done.

Thinking about it, Inuyasha didn't want to blast it right where they stood, as there were a few relatively undamaged buildings behind the oni that would be completely destroyed if he unleashed a Kaze no Kizu at that angle. They needed to get the oni away from the village and out towards the forest if he was going to use an attack that strong. He might not need to, though. The beast's youki didn't feel all that powerful, so since it hadn't successfully gotten a hold of that village's jewel shard yet he might be able to do away with it without using such a powerful attack.

"Where's the shard?" he asked Kagome quietly, who mentally scanned for the crystal's current whereabouts without taking her eyes off of the beast she still held in stalemate.

"Somewhere behind us, I think one of the villagers has it on his or her person, because its position has changed while I've stood still."

Inuyasha nodded his understanding, deciding they could deal with that as an afterthought once the oni was taken care of.

"Hey, ugly!" he shouted at the beast then, quickly earning the tree-ogre's attention. "Leave these people alone, you bastard! You want jewel shards? We've got plenty! You can feel 'em, can't you? So come and get 'em if you think you can!"

Enraged by the hanyou's taunting, as Inuyasha had known the pea-brained monster would be, the mori-oni charged without hesitation, and Kagome merely stood her ground, unafraid, as Inuyasha readied himself to strike. Smirking, the hanyou quickly drew and transformed Tessaiga in a single fluid motion, an act which earned even more shocked gasps of awe from their audience though he paid the villagers no mind. While he couldn't unleash a blast as powerful as the Kaze no Kizu with those buildings in its path, that didn't mean he couldn't slash at the monster with Tessaiga itself, which he did with vigor as it charged right for him, aiming a swing with its right arm that was so powerful it would have probably knocked Inuyasha's head clean off his shoulders, provided the oni had actually made contact. Inuyasha dodged easily, and then brought Tessaiga up through its immobilized left arm, cleanly removing the limb in a move he remembered from having done it once before on a youkai that had been much larger and much more powerful.

_Heh, this guy is nothing compared to fighting Sesshoumaru, and if I can do __that__ and live then I could probably defeat this guy with my eyes closed_...

Inuyasha knew not to get too smug or overly confident, though; he'd seen that become the fatal move of countless enemies over the years. In the brief moment that the oni was distracted he quickly distanced himself from Kagome, believing he would be the beast's main target now as it should seek him out in a fit of rage for taking its arm. If so he would lure it into the woods and then obliterate it once it was safe to unleash a Kaze no Kizu, no fooling around. If it chose to go after Kagome instead then he wouldn't hesitate to attack it from behind with a technique that wouldn't put Kagome in danger. For either scenario he had a plan.

The oni howled in agony as it clutched the stump where its left arm had once been, and was just about to go after Inuyasha once it gathered its wits, but then Kagome suddenly called out "Hey! These are what you want, aren't they?" as she held up her bottle of jewel shards in her right hand, having slipped the chain from around her neck, and the oni immediately turned and rushed towards her instead with an almost blind lust for the crystals, thoughts of revenge against the hanyou instantly forgotten.

Removing the shards from around her neck had disarmed Kagome in a sense, as she held both her bow and the arrow in her left hand together, the shaft of the arrow resting parallel to the bow, like gripping a pair of sticks, but she wasn't worried because she knew she could arm herself again very quickly. She had only wanted to distract the oni so that Inuyasha could land another strike, which he quickly attempted in that moment by launching himself at the oni from behind. Swinging Tessaiga towards the beast's neck, Inuyasha's plan was to decapitate it, but relatively weak in the youki department or not, the oni quickly proved more stalwart than originally anticipated when his sword unexpectedly bounced off of the monster's thick and scaly hide without even making a dent. Apparently, it had only been Kagome's purifying arrow to its shoulder that had enabled Inuyasha to sever that arm. Taking it down really _would _be a team effort.

As Inuyasha fell backwards from the reflected energy of his failed strike the beast completely ignored him, still headed straight for Kagome and her jewel shards, but by the time Inuyasha shouted "Fuck! Kagome, look out!" she was already re-nocking her arrow, the shards tucked into her skirt pocket for the time being.

_Crap! _ she thought in a near panic, neither of them having anticipated that its hide would be too tough for Tessaiga's blade since Inuyasha had already severed its arm.

She too quickly realized that it had to have been her previous arrow that had made the difference, weakening that part of the oni's body. Releasing her second arrow in that moment, she didn't have enough time to aim properly, but with the giant beastly youkai closing in on her so rapidly she didn't really need to worry about her aim all that much; she was guaranteed to hit it _somewhere_. Her arrow struck its belly with only a few short feet to spare between them, exploding with a bright blast of light, and the oni curled in on itself, howling in pain as it hunched over into a ball and reached for the damage with its right hand, as if about to coddle the wound before suddenly thinking better of it and pulling its hand back away, probably realizing it shouldn't touch the wound for fear that lingering holy energy would only end up crippling its hand as well. It needed its hand; it wanted to crush the life out of the miko with its remaining hand, feeling her blood ooze between its fingers before throwing her lifeless body aside and claiming her jewel shards for itself.

Inuyasha wouldn't give it the chance. Unhesitatingly, he rushed the beast while it was still hunched over, and while gripping Tessaiga in only his right hand he swung up at its belly with an uppercut from his left, shouting "Sankon Tessou!" His youki blades struck true, causing the oni to rear back up straight on its hindlegs with a howl of pain, its crimson eyes blazing of hatred and promises of death.

Kagome had long since gotten out of the way, the miko having scurried backwards by a couple dozen feet immediately after her second arrow had hit its belly, and so now as she watched the oni roar in unimaginable pain as Inuyasha's blades of youki tore through its weakened flesh, she found herself actually feeling sorry for the beast, but only in that she wanted to hurry up and put it out of its misery, to end its suffering.

Notching her third arrow, then, she called out to Inuyasha, "Let's try that again!" and then she fired, her aim true as she struck the beast in the throat. Her arrow disintigratd into dust on impact just as the first two had, the youkai's hide apparently _so _thick that without proper training on how to channel her powers better it was all she could to to blast away its outermost layers of armor-like skin, but that was enough.

Making a gasping, gargling noise, the oni instincitively reached for its throat, not pulling its hand back away quick enough that time as its palm started sizzling from the residual traces of her miko energy. That caused it to yank its hand back away from its throat quickly, just in time for Inuyasha to shout "Tessaiga!" as he came in from the side, the oni having been completely distracted in its pain and anger. Its crazy, evil red eyes opened wide to realize it was about to die just before Inuyasha's blade made contact, and thanks to Kagome's arrow weakening that part of the beast's body, he was now able to cleanly slice through the oni's neck, its head falling to the ground with a loud thud.

_Thank goodness it hadn't already gotten a hold of that jewel shard_... Kagome thought in relief, knowing their battle would have only just been getting started if it had, because something as trivial as decapitation wouldn't have brought down a shard-enhanced oni.

She didn't even want to think about how much more powerful it would have become had it had a jewel shard. She and Inuyasha would have probably needed to combine one of her arrows with his Kaze no Kizu regardless of whatever empty structures stood in the path of destruction; if they'd had an opening to make the shot without any _villagers _in the way then saving lives was definitely more important than saving buildings. Fortunately that hadn't been an issue, and they had managed to do both, taking the beast down without causing any more damage to the village.

The villagers immediately cheered, though their joyous cries were understandably short-lived as the true depth of what all had happened sank in. There were quite a few bodies still lying wherever those poor souls had fallen, and feeling a bit awkward, Inuyasha almost wished Miroku was with them for this part, though he would do his best to muddle through.

"We need to burn its head, just in case." he instructed first and foremost, gesturing to the fallen oni, and a few of the stronger village men immediately ran off to collect firewood and scrap boards and whatever else they could find to construct a makeshift pyre for the task. They would not dishonor their dead by using their _actual _funeral pyre, which would also be getting a lot of use, unfortunately.

"Miko-sama..." a few of the villagers murmured as they humbly approached Kagome with their thanks. "Please, will you offer us a blessing for our loved ones?"

Kagome was surprised, never having been asked to do such a thing before, although she had heard Miroku do it more times than she'd like to recall and knew that it was something she could do. She wanted to, if it would help put these people's minds at rest, not to mention the souls of the deceased who probably _did _need somebody to pray over them after such a tragic way their lives had ended.

Glancing Inuyasha's way with questioning eyes, hesitant to say anything if he wanted them to just get the shard and get on the road, she was relieved and offered him a small smile in thanks when he nodded his head in the affirmative in answer to her silent plea.

"While you do that, I'll go bury its body deep in the woods somewhere. I'll be right back, be careful while I'm gone."

Kagome nodded her understanding, her eyes shining with gratitude as she then let the villagers lead her to where they were gathering up all of their dead so that she could perform their last rights. Inuyasha was a little apprehensive about leaving Kagome alone in their ranks, but honestly, he sensed no malice from anyone present, not even from whoever it was that carried a jewel shard. Kagome herself had even said that that shard didn't feel very tainted, and so most likely one of the people had just randomly come across it and picked it up, and even if they did know what it was they probably hadn't used it for much of anything. They had probably thought it would bring their village _good _luck.

_Yeah right_... Inuyasha snorted, knowing those blasted shards were nothing but bad news.

Grabbing the dead oni by its feet he quickly dragged it off into the forest, using his top speed to put as much distance between it and the villagers in the shortest amount of time as possible. He then attempted hacking it to pieces, but even dead its hide was still too thick for him to cut through in any place not significantly weakened by Kagome's purifying energy. Quickly changing tactics he put his speed to use once more and dug like one would expect a person who was half canine might be able to dig, piles of dirt flying up between his legs as he hunched over. It only took him a few brief minutes to create a hole large enough to dump the oni's body into, and then he covered it back up. Even if carrion youkai were still drawn to its stink, it was plenty far enough away from the village that they shouldn't be a problem.

With that task accomplished he quickly turned tail and ran back to the village again at his top speed, and was pleased by the sight that greeted him when he returned, the oni's head burning in a roaring fire that created large plumes of black smoke while on the other end of the village Kagome spoke the words she recalled Miroku reciting on many past occasions as the unlit funeral pyre held all of the fallen. Inuyasha paid his own respects by staying clear, not wanting to risk tainting the holy ritual with his presence. Even though he was a good man, he _was _half youkai, and Inuyasha understood that there were certain things that youkai just could not do; blessing the dead was one of them.

His ears turned just in time to warn him that somebody was coming up behind him before he felt a village man clasp his shoulder lightly.

"Thank you, Youkai-sama, for fighting on the side of good and saving our village."

Stunned speechless, Inuyasha's eyes said it all as he turned to stare at the villager, who accurately suspected the inu-hanyou was not all that used to receiving his own personal praise. The man continued.

"I cannot speak for the prejudice of others, but you and your miko will always be welcome here."

It quickly dawned on Inuyasha based on the way he was dressed, not to mention his mannerisms, that this older gentleman was the headman of the village.

"Th-thank you." he managed to get out, blushing slightly as the human man only grinned at him.

"You are quite welcome, as it is us who thank _you_, and always shall. Might you and your companion grace us with your presence for a feast tonight in your honor?"

Humbled, part of Inuyasha wanted to accept, simply for the sake of actually feeling welcomed somewhere for once, but he knew they couldn't dawdle with the unknowns that still lingered regarding whatever evil forces were at play in Mushin's village.

"It would be an honor, but I'm afraid we can't, 'cause we were on our way with our friends to another village in need when we saw you guys under attack."

The headman nodded his understanding, having witnessed the way Inuyasha and Kagome had literally dropped from the sky. "And so sending your companions to continue onward in the mission you had already been embarked upon, you and the miko diverged and opted to save us when you did not have to. We are truly in your debt." the headman stated then, asking, "Might we at least know your names, so that we may sing of your praises during tonight's celebration?"

Blushing again, Inuyasha managed to mutter, "Uh...yeah, sure, I guess. My name's Inuyasha, and she's Kagome." he stated, pointing towards the future-born miko who was just finishing up her prayer. With her standing and backing away from the pyre, it was then lit, and it did not take long for the dead bodies to ignite, sending their pacified souls into the next life.

"Come..." the headman stated then, as he headed towards Kagome, indicating to Inuyasha that it was now okay for him to approach as well.

"Kagome-sama, our many thanks once again." the headman stated as he drew near, and she blinked in surprise for a brief moment in response, since everyone had only been calling her 'Miko-sama' and she had not yet thought to introduce herself.

Kagome was surprised that Inuyasha had apparently told the headman their names, but she was surprised in a good way, because it meant that he had obviously been talking with the man, and regardless of whatever it was they had been discussing she was happy to know that he had been comfortable enough to actually talk civilly with the man while she finished performing the last rights of the fallen.

"It was my honor to do whatever I could for your fallen brethren. I only wish that circumstances had permitted us to stumble upon your village even sooner."

"Far better that you stumbled upon us when you did than not at all." the headman countered, offering Kagome a respectful bow that she returned. "I attempted to invite you both to stay for a feast to be held tonight in your honor, but your companion here informed me that we were an unexpected stop whilst you had already been en route to another village that is also in need of your aid, and as such we shall delay your departure no longer. Please, know that you and Inuyasha-sama will always be welcome among us."

"Thank you very much, that is very kind of you." Kagome stated sincerely, adding, "Yes, I'm afraid that we must be going, however before we depart there is one other matter to which we must attend."

Inuyasha smirked to himself to hear Kagome speak so formally, really taking the role of miko seriously. He was proud of her.

"And what might that be?" the headman asked politely, ready and willing to aid Kagome with anything he could.

She explained to him quickly about the presence she felt of a sacred jewel shard, elaborating that she sincerely believed that the shard's presence was the sole reason for the oni's attack, and that if whomever was in possession of it did retain it, it would certainly only mean additional youkai attacks in the future. Removing her bottle of shards from her skirt pocket and hanging them back around her neck, she let the headman see her small collection as she stated that it was her solemn duty to collect and purify the jewel shards.

He did not question her, taking her account on faith that she truly was on a holy mission to restore the sacred jewel. Kagome did not need to explain how she had been born with the Shikon no Tama in her body or how she was actually the one who had accidentally shattered it in the first place. The simple fact that she possessed five shards, all sparkling brightly with their purity, was the only proof the headman needed to know that she spoke the truth. He had not been aware that there was a jewel shard within his village, and had no idea who possessed it, but he gave Kagome permission in that moment to approach the individual and claim the crystal, as she explained to him that a village wide search or interrogation would not be required as she could easily sense its location. For that he was relieved; they had been through enough already.

With both Inuyasha and the village headman accompanying Kagome, she made a bee-line towards the pull she could feel of the jewel shard's power, bowing her head lightly in appreciation to whomever bowed her way as she passed. Approaching the man that had the jewel shard he greeted them politely, in no way acting like he had anything to hide.

"I must ask that you please relinquish claim of the Shikon no Kakera." Kagome stated with as much mix of sternness and politeness she felt could be mixed together, holding out her right hand in anticipation with an unwavering look in her eyes. She was just grateful that Inuyasha had not spoken up before her and demanded the jewel fragment in an even harsher fashion.

"Shikon no Kakera?" the man asked in return, sounding truly perplexed.

"Don't play dumb." Inuyasha started then, though at Kagome's look he quickly bit his tongue and let her do the rest of the talking. These people were on good terms with him, and contrary to popular believe he _would _like to keep it that way.

"I'm afraid I truly don't..." the village man started, before pausing mid-sentence as his eyes suddenly opened wide as if in dawning. "I...I found this alongside the road during my last trek into market." he stated then, reaching into his robe for a folded up piece of carrying cloth. "I-I d-didn't know it was a f-fragm-ment of the Sh-shikon no Tama." he elaborated with a shaky voice, as if suddenly realizing the attack on his village had been his fault.

Kagome accepted the folded piece of cloth, reaching for it with her left hand to open it and reveal the jewel shard. It was not overly tainted, but not pure either, pulsing with a pastel grayish-orchid hue. She then picked up the crystal, which instantly purified at her touch, and handing the man back his carrying cloth, she added the shard to her bottle.

"I should have known...I knew it was magic..." the man explained. "When I had first spotted it, I didn't know what it was. I had thought that it was perhaps a piece of adamant from the nearby mountains, but as soon as I picked it up the pain in my knees went away; I hadn't felt so strong or healthy in years." Looking incredibly guilty he insisted, "But I did not realize it was actually a shard of _the _Shikon no Tama. I have heard many rumors during my times at market of how youkai from all over went crazy to seek those jewel fragments when the Shikon no Tama mysteriously reappeared and shattered; I never would have kept it and brought it home had I known, I swear it."

His eyes went back and forth between Kagome's and his headman's, remorseful, and desperate for them to believe him; his words were honest.

"We all make mistakes." Kagome stated softly with a solemn, understanding gaze, believing the man's words were true. If he had been consciously using the shard as anything more than an actual medicinal crystal then it would have become far more tainted than it had. Fortunately, it had not spoken to any greed within the man beyond him merely wanting to feel well again, he had not used it to become powerful.

Turning and gazing at all of the death and destruction his possession of that shard had caused, the villager in question murmured a quiet "May the kami forgive me..."

Neither the villager nor his headman knew that Kagome's thoughts were echoing along similar lines, the miko feeling just as guilty and responsible, though Inuyasha could easily read it in her eyes.

"Hey..." he spoke up then, hoping to pull her out of her funk. If he could go back in time to when he'd used to throw the shattering of the jewel in her face and kick his own ass he would, as she gazed up at him with pain-filled eyes in that moment.

Fortunately the two village men believed her expression stemmed only from her place of compassion, of being so empathetic towards their loss.

"We really do need to get going. What if the others need us?"

"Yes...yes absolutely." Kagome stated then, snapping herself out of it at Inuyasha's reminder.

Flashing her hanyou companion a look that spoke of her deeper thanks, she turned to greet the village headman.

"We really must be going now, our friends are dealing with a mysterious evil presence at a village that resides to the east of here." she stated, pointing briefly in the direction they planned on heading. "Our apologies that we cannot stay for tonight's feast."

"Think nothing of it Kagome-sama, Inuyasha-sama..." the headman stated, addressing Kagome before turning his head to address Inuyasha as well, the hanyou still mildly in shock to hear a human man add such an honorific to his name. "We shall forever be in your debt. You, as well as your other companions who are not with you here at this time, shall always be welcomed as honored guests among us."

Bowing one more time, Kagome then quickly retrieved her backpack and quiver from where she had sat them to not be hindered by their presence as she knelt and performed the last rights of the fallen. Then, making sure both items were adjusted properly on her back, bow gripped firmly in hand, she headed out of the village towards the east with Inuyasha walking proudly beside her, as an equal. Whatever the villagers thought of them, it was enough to know that they respected her as a powerful miko, and Inuyasha too as a powerful being fighting for the side of good. It was only too bad they had not arrived sooner in order to save anyone from falling at the hands of that oni. Still, the headman was right, Kagome knew. It was far better that they had arrived when they had than not at all. If it hadn't been for Hachi showing up to fetch them right when he had, if it hadn't been for their precise location at that time, and the path back to Mushin's that had taken them directly over this village...heck, if it hadn't been for that evil presence invading Mushin's village in the first place, then most likely all of those villagers would have been killed. Even if the oni would have left them alone after finding the shard, who knew how many more deaths there would have been before it'd found it? It was funny how the universe worked at times, the threat of evil they needed to deal with over at Mushin's directly resulting in _saving _these other villagers' lives.

Kagome sighed, content that something positive had come from something negative.

Once they rounded a corner and were hidden by the nearby forest, no longer in plain sight of the villagers, Kagome mounted Inuyasha's back and they were off, racing through the trees. They had a lot of ground to cover before nightfall.

oooOooo

"Okay, we'll stop here for the night." Inuyasha stated as the twilight sky started getting too dark for Kagome to see where they were going.

Not that the miko needed to see where they were going, per se, since she trusted Inuyasha and could in actuality just close her eyes and enjoy riding on his back all night long, but as she had logically pointed out, she would become more of a hindrance than an aid to him if they continued onward into the night and another youkai decided to jump them when she couldn't really see all that well. Twice since leaving the village they had run into lowly little forest youkai seeking them out for her jewel shards. One had been a lizard-type thing that hadn't listened to reason and had had to be dealt with, while the other, kind of rabbit-ish creature had frightened more easily and taken off as soon as Inuyasha had transformed Tessaiga. Still, even though the only things that had been approaching them so far were all very weak animal-ish youkai that Inuyasha could easily take care of all on his own, you never knew when a more beastly oni or akuma might come out of the woodwork. It would be far better for them to be camped out and prepared, in a safe location where nothing could sneak up on them, with their weapons at the ready, with a roaring fire enabling Kagome to see better. Inuyasha hadn't even argued. As soon as the miko had brought it up, a little after sunset, he'd readily agreed and had immediately started searching for the perfect place to make camp.

Going about setting up said camp in that moment, Kagome tried to squash the butterflies suddenly trying to break free from her stomach. What was the _matter _with her? It wasn't like she'd never camped out alone with Inuyasha before, just the two of them. They had started out on this whole dang journey all alone just the two of them! Though...then again, she hadn't yet been in love with the guy at that time. Digging out and preparing a firepit while Inuyasha went into the nearby woods to collect dry brush and firewood, the hanyou promising to stay within hearing and scent range, Kagome slowed her breathing and tried again to calm her nerves.

_Gah! I'm such a teenager! _ the miko mentally scolded herself. Sometimes it was hard to remember that she was only fifteen; she felt so much older at times from everything she'd seen and done over the last few months.

_Get a grip, Kagome, it's just Inuyasha_ ... she told herself, as if trying to reassure herself that the boy wouldn't 'try' anything while the two of them were alone.

Though, on the other hand, maybe _that _was the problem. A large part of Kagome honestly wouldn't mind it if he _did _try something, although she knew it was a foolish pipe dream that would never come to pass. But she definitely didn't think she was nervous over the slim possibility that he just might actually come on to her, even if it was a purely physical attraction since she knew he loved Kikyou. Yes, that would break her heart, a bit, though she couldn't really, honestly say if she would turn him down or not, and therein lied the actual problem. Kagome was worried that _she _might try something, even inadvertently. She would have to make doubly sure to act perfectly natural and not say or do anything that could possibly be taken the wrong way, or the _right _way, which would be very wrong of her to do. She needed to act just the same as she would if the others were there with them, and not allow her mind to trick her into taking advantage of the fact that they were actually all alone.

Her mental lecturing worked, and so by the time Inuyasha returned with the firewood Kagome had successfully calmed her frantic nerves, and as he watched her start the fire with her matchsticks he pretended that he hadn't noticed just how flustered she'd momentarily been. Inuyasha had absolutely no idea what had _really _been bothering her and so he assumed that Kagome's unease was probably a combination of her fearing something _big _might attack them while it was just the two of them, plus also worrying about their friends and hoping that _they_ were okay, because it did kind of suck being separated when they knew the others could possibly be facing off against a formidable foe right at that moment and there was nothing they could do to help them.

Whatever had been bothering her, specifically, she was clearly over it now as she smiled his way peacefully while filling her metal pot with water from one of her bottles, preparing to make ramen. Inuyasha would leave her alone to her thoughts, then, because if she wanted to talk about it then she would, plain and simple, and he sure as hell wouldn't _ask_ her to talk about whatever had been bothering her without her volunteering the information all on her own. That would only be asking for trouble, if _she_ ever started asking _him _what was bothering _him _on any of the many times when _he_ didn't want to talk about it. Kagome always seemed to be able to tell whenever he just needed a moment to himself, to sort out his thoughts in private, and she respected that about him and always left him alone to do his thinking in peace at those times, so he would grant her that same favor now.

While they waited for the water to boil, to fill the silence, Kagome engaged Inuyasha in a reprise conversation about what he thought they might be facing off against once they got to Mushin's tomorrow afternoon, unknowingly confirming in the hanyou's mind that that had been what had been troubling her before.

Admitting that he actually had no idea what could be behind that evil aura, that there were really several different possibilities, he swore that he would run them all morning long tomorrow, just as he had done all that evening after leaving the village, in order to get them to Mushin's temple as quickly as possible. Hopefully whatever was going on, their friends were safe for the time being. Even if Sango could theoretically be at risk of whatever it was, Inuyasha knew that, drunkard or not, Mushin was a fairly powerful monk, and that rundown or not that temple of his was still holy ground. There was no way whatever evil aura was hovering over the village could touch _anyone _inside that temple. Of that he was certain. Especially not with Miroku there to help reinforce whatever wards Mushin kept up around the place. No, their friends were definitely safe for tonight, he just couldn't say the same thing about the villagers with any confidence.

Once the water came to a boil Kagome poured it into their ramen cups, and for the next minute or so they waited in companionable silence, neither of them able to think of anything else to talk about. It wasn't really an awkward silence, though. They didn't _need _to talk about anything, they both quickly found, as they ate their meal in silence and then Kagome prepared to try to go to bed for the night, even though she wasn't sure how much sleep she'd actually be able to get. Voicing that mild concern out loud as she laid out her sleeping bag, even though she had more or less just been mumbling to herself, she was surprised but also touched by Inuyasha's unexpected response.

"At least try to get some sleep. You need your rest; I don't want you not your best tomorrow because you're too tired."

He had said similar things in the past, of course, but originally such a comment from him would have been riddled with insults, that she needed her sleep to not be _weak _and _useless _the next day, or that he didn't want to have to carry her ass around everywhere if she were too tired to walk, or that he didn't want to have to come to her rescue if she was too tired to defend herself properly. This time, he had phrased it as if he actually did care, which she knew he _did_, which was what made the words that much more special to her. He honestly, truly was her friend now, and he could show, at least whenever the two of them were alone, that he cared about her as a friend.

She smiled.

"You need your rest too, you know." Kagome pointed out softly then, and he scoffed, turning his head away so that she wouldn't see his light blush as he sat on a low tree branch above her.

"It's just the two of us, so I definitely gotta stay up and keep watch. I'll be fine."

Inuyasha did have a point about it being just the two of them, and she also knew that he probably really would be all right without the sleep, but still...

"Okay, well...just as soon as all this craziness with Mushin-sama's village is taken care of, we should probably stay at the temple for a day or two, so that you can get at least one good's night sleep to recharge. You can't stay awake _forever_."

"Keh."

Smiling to herself again at that, because she knew the sound meant that he would comply, a pajama-clad Kagome settled down and closed her eyes, then, planning on listening to her friend's advice and at least try to get as much sleep as possible. Worrying about tomorrow would do her no good, she knew. She _would_ be at her best fully rested, and so therefore in order to best be prepared for whatever lay ahead of them, she needed to not worry about it now so that she could fall asleep. She wasn't sure how well her brain would actually obey such a command, but it was worth a shot.

oooOooooooOooo

Half a day's journey away, also settling into bed for the night, Miroku and Sango rested in the same room as one another at the temple, a privacy screen separating their bedrolls. Shippou and Kirara were cuddled together in the far corner of Sango's side of the room.

When the remainder of the Inu-tachi had first arrived that afternoon they had immediately noticed that it had been just as Hachi had relayed it, feeling an incredible sensation of evil as they'd strolled through the town at the base of the mountain in tremendous concern to observe the way everyone seemed so very angry and hostile. Meeting up with Mushin soon afterwards they'd then learned from the aging monk that things had indeed been getting steadily worse over the last few days. He had been spending the majority of his time within the heart of the village, only making the trek to and from his temple to eat and sleep for the night as that was his residence and nobody was presently in a charitable enough mood to allow him temporary room and board elsewhere, otherwise he had considered it his duty to keep an eye on the villagers and hope that his prayers might at least be slowing the progress of whatever it was that was going on. That and the blessings he had secretly been placing on people's houses.

There had thankfully been no deaths, yet, but fighting amongst the villagers was becoming a much more regular occurrence, and much more violent than just two drunk men throwing fists at one another. Several serious injuries had already resulted from massive brawls between individual families, and even as Mushin would tend to their broken bones or other injuries – since the village healer did not care to do so – he would receive harsh words from even the injured themselves while he worked, from men and women alike who had been nothing but kind to him in the past. Fortunately, because he would not rise to their baiting, nobody was being especially vicious towards Mushin directly outside of speaking cruelly; it was as if amongst the villagers themselves it would start as harsh words, but then because each party involved felt such inner hatred it would quickly escalate into physical violence as a result. Mushin no longer tried exorcising anyone with his ofuda, he no longer gave them any reason to attack him personally, remaining docile and apologetic even as they insulted him, and so they would huff in indignation and anger but not strike him. He only hoped Miroku could figure out what was causing this behavior before the scattered and fairly isolated fights among three or four individuals at a time escalated into one massive, village-wide riot.

Everyone could feel the incredible evilness of the demonic aura that had permeated the entire area, although Miroku did believe he agreed with his sensei, it did not feel like Naraku's doing. Most likely it was an energy-based youkai that fed off of human emotions. But before they could fully hope to locate and destroy it, they had to first determine whether or not this entity was thriving off of the villagers' feelings of hostility, and was actually inducing those feelings in them in order to relish in the result, or if it was instead consuming all of their _positive _feelings, feeding off of their kindness and compassion, and thereby leaving nothing but their own naturally occurring negative emotions to flourish unchecked in its wake.

After a good night's sleep and quick breakfast, Miroku and the others would venture back into the village tomorrow morning and see if they could determine with any finality whether or not the villagers seemed to be under the direct influence of the evil aura itself, or whether or not that aura was more likely just a byproduct of whatever else was going on. If the youkai involved was pumping the villagers up with artificial hostility then he should be able to sense that, and Sango had a few taijiya tricks up her sleeves that might help break them from the spell, if that were the case. Otherwise, if he could feel no magic polluting their souls, then the determination would most likely be that their feelings of kindness and love were being consumed, in which case top priority would become finding and killing the youkai rather than trying to break or block the spell.

It was also possible that the dark aura wasn't the result of a youkai that fed off of emotions, and that there was some other kind of evilness in the area and the aura itself was affecting the villagers in such a negative fashion as a side effect, but Miroku strongly believed that they were looking at some type of an emotion-eater. It was just a matter of determining which kind. Hopefully they'd find out tomorrow morning, so that by the time Kagome and Inuyasha arrived, which would probably be somewhere around midday or early afternoon, they would already have a game plan in motion for how to best deal with whatever type of youkai was behind this. Tomorrow would tell.


	2. Identity Crisis

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Chapter 2 – Identity Crisis

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Rising with the sun, Kagome asked Inuyasha if he wanted more ramen for breakfast or if he'd rather go hunting; she only had three cups of ramen left, which would have been their friends' shares from the night before had they not been separated.

"Let's go ahead and eat the ramen so that we can get going. Hunting'll take up too much time 'cause then there's preparing the catch afterwards before we can cook it."

Nodding her agreement that that was logical reasoning, Kagome set to work getting their dwindling campfire built back up, and then went to change back into her uniform while the water heated to a boil, another supply they were starting to run low on again. She still had enough left for drinking to make it to Mushin's, though, so she wouldn't ask Inuyasha to detour to a body of water to refill her bottles right now. She knew there was a water source by Mushin's temple so she would refill her bottles there. Additional ramen they would just have to do without for the time being.

There was no point in hanging onto one single leftover cup of noodles, since they would obviously still have to hunt or fish anyway for the rest of everyone's food until she could restock – and certainly Inuyasha would insist that that last cup of ramen belonged to him, anyway – so since he had gone two straight nights in a row now without a single minute of sleep Kagome decided to go ahead and give Inuyasha both cups of ramen at the same time in that moment. She knew he could probably go through at least a dozen in a single sitting if he _wanted _to, and an extra cup would mean more energy; she was certain he could use it.

"Keh..." he mumbled quietly when he noticed her bringing out all three cups and pouring water into each, his subtle way of saying thanks. Kagome understood, and smiled softly to herself, which Inuyasha noticed even though he acted like he didn't as he silently accepted both cups of ramen from her and began eating without another further comment. She'd caught the way he'd blushed faintly, though, which only made her smile all the more as she ate her own noodles in silence.

_I guess after resting at Mushin-sama's temple we'll have to head back to Kaede-obaa-chan's village so that I can go through the well and restock our supplies_ ... she thought in passing.

She should probably check back in with her school, too, and make sure to take any make-up tests that might be waiting for her, but she would wait to bring that part up later, she silently determined with a subtle nod of her head. No sense in getting Inuyasha in a pissy mood prematurely, since they definitely wouldn't be heading back to the well until after they took care of whatever was hurting Mushin's people, and they admittedly had no idea how long _that_ was going to take. Kagome's mother and grandfather had long since told the school board that she had to go away a lot to a special shrine for medicinal treatments because of her various repetitive ailments, and so she was more or less on a schedule of popping in for one or two days every one or two months or so to take her make-up tests. That cover story worked out the best for everyone because then if any of her school friends showed up at the shrine wanting to visit with her or even just to go over school notes for something she'd missed in class, nobody in her family had to fib at the door that she was too sick to even get out of bed and come downstairs to see her friends and instead they could honestly state that Kagome wasn't home; it was only the reason why and her actual whereabouts they had to lie about.

Once the duo were finished with their ramen and the disposable cups were burned in their campfire, Inuyasha made sure that the fire was properly extinguished while Kagome packed up her bedroll into that seemingly bottomless pit Tardis-like backpack of hers, and then once she balanced said backpack upon her back alongside her quiver of arrows they were off.

Racing through the trees at his top speed, Inuyasha estimated it would probably take them roughly six hours or so to reach their destination, provided nothing pestered them along the way. They should get there by early afternoon. Calling back over the rushing wind that she understood, Kagome held on tightly, letting him do his thing.

Back in the beginning Kagome would have hated such a long stretch of aggressive racing, though not because the idea of being in such close intimate contact with Inuyasha had really bothered her all that much, even back then, but just for the simple fact that it had been physically uncomfortable for her, at first, just like someone riding a horse for long hours at a time if they weren't used to it. She was used to it now, though, and so settling herself in for the long haul, she and Inuyasha fell into perfect sync with one another. She moved as he moved, flowing with all of his jumps so that neither of them got rattled on the landing. Of course, there was a newfound hindrance, or perhaps it was a benefit, of having gotten so used to the feel of his body below hers. It had never used to be a problem, until Kagome had started feeling _that _way about him, and then suddenly 'that' became the _only _way she could feel about him, at least whenever riding on his back...at least whenever she wasn't distracted by them chasing or being chased by a youkai.

A somewhat naughty part of her mind wondered if the way her breasts were pressed firmly against his back, or the way she squeezed his waist with her legs, or the way he gripped her bare inner thighs with his bare hands affected him as much as it affected her. She didn't know that much about human physiology, and she knew even less about inu-hanyou, and therefore didn't really know if she actually gave off any kind of an 'aroused' scent that he would instinctively recognize whenever she felt the occasional tingling down below, but if the dampening of her panties was in fact something that that nose of his could distinguish then he either honestly didn't know what the smell actually meant and therefore ignored it or he was one hell of an actor. He certainly never gave any indication that he knew what their long runs could do to her, not that she was honestly expecting him to suddenly turn Miroku-ish and tease her or hit on her because of it, but even a more anticipated Inuyasha-like reaction of seeming either nervous, flustered and/or uncomfortable because of it had never happened either. Which she supposed in reality was a good thing even though it was still a little disappointing at the same time. Dejectedly, Kagome presumed that he probably didn't know what that particular smell actually meant, and chalked it up to normal human female bodily odors. It sounded kind of crude to think of it that way, but thinking about how sensitive that nose of his really was, she imagined that he could probably _always _smell her downstairs parts, along with every single other person they'd ever encountered, and so in order to avoid sensory overload his mind probably just jumbled all of the various bodily odors of a person together into a new form of B.O. that she was thankful her human nose couldn't fully pick up on. She could only imagine how badly somebody had to reek to the hanyou when even _she _thought they smelled horribly bad from lack of bathing. Honestly, knowing how sensitive his nose was was the main reason why she was as obsessed with bathing as she was, not wanting to risk actually smelling bad to him, _especially _after he'd confessed that one time to having lied about hating her scent.

But a stronger body odor as a whole from not having bathed was way different than a _certain _stronger odor on an otherwise _clean_ body. Sometimes, when they traveled for long hours on end like they were doing now, Kagome liked to pretend that he could in fact actually smell her arousal as a separate odor, but that maybe he just didn't know that much about human physiology either, and therefore he didn't put two and two together, not realizing that the stronger scent of her 'female'ness meant that she was getting hot for him. She imagined that the scent of her body's natural lubricants in turn got _him _aroused, even if it was just an instinctive thing and a purely physical attraction, and that he was terrified to let her know about it for fear that she would be angry with him because he didn't know she felt the same way. Perhaps he feared that she would think him an animal, for being turned on by the scent of her womanhood like a dog attracted to a bitch in heat, when in fact nothing would be further from the truth. She fully comprehended the fact that he was half canine-youkai, but she loved him for _him _and that included his animalistic traits. She would sometimes daydream that if she ever found out that he too was secretly aroused by her that she would show him just how little he actually had to fear.

It was a nice fantasy, although she forced her mind to come back into the here and now in that moment, knowing that she couldn't afford to let her higher brain functions drift off into la-la land. If the others were with them, flying just overhead on Kirara, then she could more easily afford herself a little fantasy time for two reasons. One, daydreaming or not she would never be foolish enough to let her mind slip far enough into the obis to forget that they had company and actually let herself say or do something that would be even extra humiliating when he rejected her in front of an audience. Without that buffer she just might slip and say or do something that would still be humiliating enough when he rejected her _without_ an audience. Two, when there were more eyes and ears and sixth senses on the lookout for danger she didn't have to worry quite so much about some kind of scary bogeyman sneaking up on them. With it being just her and Inuyasha right now she really needed to stay focused on their surroundings just on the off chance that something tried to sneak up on them in a way that she would notice before her hanyou companion did. True, he would almost definitely sense any possible incoming attack before she would, but why automatically dump the sole responsibility for their protection on his shoulders? That wasn't very fair. So she would keep her mind sharp and her senses open, Kagome told herself then.

Besides, if the scent of her arousal really _did _turn him on as well then the last thing she wanted to do was make the poor guy run with a hard-on for six straight hours. Besides such a thing undoubtedly being miserable for him and possibly even painful, she was sure it would also be one hell of a distraction, and again, it was just the two of them. They couldn't _both _let themselves be distracted by their hormones or they'd be dead for sure. And even assuming that he either couldn't scent her arousal or did but didn't know what it meant and wasn't affected by it, that still didn't necessarily mean that he wasn't affected by her nearness in and of itself, turned on for the simple fact that she was pressed up against him so intimately, just like she was turned on because of it. If _that _were the case then he was probably going to be distracted no matter _what _she let her mind wander off to think about, which meant that she _really _needed to pay attention if it was possible that the sole responsibility for being fully aware of their surroundings fell on _her _shoulders.

Kagome did realize how silly that reasoning actually sounded, since she honestly doubted either her proximity or arousal affected him in any way, but either way that farfetched hypothetical gave her one more reason why she needed to keep her head in the game. It would be all she could do to concentrate on _not _being distracted by his nearness while they continued to race through the trees together all alone, but with their lives quite possibly literally on the line she wouldn't let them down. Besides...it wasn't really fair to be lusting after Inuyasha when she knew he loved Kikyou. Even if he _was _physically attracted to her, she was sure he had way more honor than to ever actually let them _do _anything, not because he didn't love _her _'that way' but because he _did _love _Kikyou_, and so it would be a betrayal against the older miko, and Kagome wasn't some man stealing 'other woman' whore. Yes, if Kikyou weren't in the picture at all and then he only felt physical attraction to her but not love she would probably give in and willingly romp around with him anyway just for the hell of it, but since Kikyou _was _in the picture Kagome knew she couldn't let herself be so heartless as to forget that fact, or even worse, make Inuyasha temporarily forget it. He would probably feel horribly guilty afterward if they ever actually lost themselves and did something so stupid, and she wouldn't be able to live with the guilt of making him feel so guilty. So fantasy or not, that was where it had to _stay_, in her mind, as a fantasy. Even though she liked to pretend that Inuyasha just might, possibly, actually _not _reject her if she ever physically came on to him, she would never _ever_ test that theory.

Of course, in reality, Inuyasha was most definitely not impervious to the affect of having Kagome pressed so intimately against his back, although the scent of her arousal whenever they ran together like they were doing now never bothered him for one very logical reason. He couldn't smell it. Not while they were zipping through the trees, the wind in his face. His nose didn't automatically pick up all things around it within a ten mile radius, after all. It wasn't an antennae. Okay sure, if the air was fairly still then maybe that was about right; his sense of smell was _very _sharp, far better than a mortal dog's...but whenever he was running like he was doing in that moment then there was simply no way he could smell anything that was coming from _behind _him with his nose being filled to the brim with all things coming at him from in front as he zipped on through. Still, that didn't mean it hadn't long since dawned on him just what part of Kagome he was touching with his bare palms, or how it felt to have her legs squeeze his waist so tightly, and hey, pressed against his back like that was probably the only time he'd ever really get to touch her breasts outside of the odd hug so he was definitely not complaining.

It was just too bad she didn't feel that way about him, or so he thought.

Just like the miko, Inuyasha was also certain that Kagome thought of him only as a very good friend. Every once in a while, when he would dare say or do anything even _remotely _suggestive, or somebody else would do him the unknown favor and say or do something suggestive themselves, Kagome was always so freakin' squeamish and quick to embarrass because of it. It was clear to him that she just wasn't ready to think about that sort of thing yet. He still remembered the time he'd tried to kiss her, when he'd been trying to tell her that she had the whole Kikyou thing all wrong and that he didn't hate her because of the former miko, and she'd gotten spooked, to put it mildly. Sure, she'd been able to tease him about it later, during their walk back after she'd woken up after Kikyou had been resurrected and it'd turned out she had no memory of Urasue's attack, when she'd asked him to his face how come he always looked at her like he _wanted _her, but as soon as he'd been the one to get all flustered and defensive – his wall flying up just because he hadn't been expecting her to say such a thing and so he'd automatically started to deny it before stopping himself mid-sentence – she'd turned around and smiled and laughed, pleased that she had gotten him to look at her because apparently he had been so lost in his own thoughts after Kikyou's resurrection that he had been unintentionally avoiding looking Kagome in the eyes. He still wasn't sure if she'd actually noticed how he actually _did _always look at her like he wanted her, or if she had been under the impression she'd made that joke up out of thin air just to get a rise out of him, and damn it all, he'd never had the balls to bring in up, just in case she really did think she'd only made a silly joke. He figured either way she'd made her own feelings clear by pulling away from his would-be kiss and so it didn't really matter, plus with the whole Kikyou thing so fresh and new back then it'd honestly been the last thing on his mind for a while there.

He would admit it, Kikyou being brought back to life had really screwed him up big time, for a little while at least. He had his head on straight nowadays, though, not that it really mattered since he knew that Kagome was still planning on going back to her own world for good once their mission was completed. Even though he sometimes suspected that she might actually be a little bit physically attracted to him – he _did _sometimes catch 'that' smell and was pretty sure he knew what it meant, and although it didn't automatically affect the dog in him on an instinctive level the _knowledge _of it sure as hell affected him as a man – he was sure that it was just a hormonal thing and nothing more. He tried not to let himself get too worked up because of it. Okay, so the growing woman in her found him a decent looking guy to look at. That his youkai blood didn't disgust her even in _that _way he actually took as a huge compliment, truth be told, and yet another shining beacon of proof that she truly did think of him as an equal and as her friend. Any time his mind started to wander too far away into 'what if' land, though, if she could possibly actually care for him as _more _than just a friend, he would remind himself in an attempt to shake it off that she obviously didn't want to be in a relationship with him because she was still planning on leaving his world after Naraku was dead and the jewel purified.

He'd heard it enough times to know it was true, every single time she insisted that she had to go back to her time for one of her 'tests'. School was for education for the future, to prepare children to have careers, in order to make money, in order to support themselves and have a life. So if she didn't plan on still having a life in her own century when everything was said and done then what would be the point in going to school? Especially since it legitimately interfered with their hunt for Naraku and the jewel shards. If she didn't _need _school for her own future plans for after the mission was over then she wouldn't go, he was sure. She always stressed that she _needed _to go, not that she really _wanted _to. No, the reason she always freaked out about it so much, even going so far as to use the rosary to escape back when he'd tried to refuse letting her leave, was because she _had _to go to school, because she was still a part of _that _world, a world in which people had to go to school in order to get a job. She'd made her feelings on that matter quite clear. So maybe she really was physically attracted to him, but she was obviously not letting that interfere with her feelings of friendship for him, not letting herself fall for him any deeper than a passing fancy because she knew that regardless of her feelings she'd be leaving him in the end and so then what would be the point in breaking both of their hearts? He could pretend, then, that she really did love him like he loved her and the only reason she'd never said anything was because she knew it simply couldn't work and so she was doing the honorable thing. _That _concept he could fully understand. Perhaps it was true, perhaps it wasn't, but a man could dream, right? Once she was out of his life for good that'd be all he'd have left...his dreams.

Yes, she had said that she would stay with him, by his side, but they'd never really spoken on any details along those lines. She _hadn't _promised to stay _forever_. She'd only asked him if he would 'let' her stay with him, because otherwise he had been planning on sending her back to her time for good right then and there. For her own good, of course, since he'd known the whole Kikyou thing had kind of bothered her because of the way he'd used to insult her all the time in the beginning, insisting she wasn't as good as Kikyou for one reason or another. He hadn't wanted her to go, but he also hadn't wanted her to feel like he didn't appreciate her friendship or care for her as herself, as Kagome, just because Kikyou was back in his life. Since she would ultimately be leaving anyway, he just hadn't wanted to force her to watch him and Kikyou interacting if she'd feel like the whole thing was a giant slap in the face. He knew he'd made it seem in the beginning that Kikyou was more important to him than she was, and while he'd set that part straight right then at the well when he'd told her how much her friendship really did mean to him, how he'd never trusted _anyone _until the day he'd met her, he still hadn't been able to abandon Kikyou completely and so if it would have hurt Kagome's feelings then he'd simply cared about her too much to subject her to that.

Of course, she'd proven in turn that she really _was_ his friend, asking him if she could stay, stating that she wanted to be with him, even despite his obligations to Kikyou and the fact that he just might end up dying because of his need to avenge her. Hell, if you thought about it, they had _already _been after Naraku, so really if you looked at it that way, if that bastard was going to kill him he was going to kill him and that's all there really was to it. Kikyou being brought back and her soul made to suffer had definitely lit a fire under his ass, intensifying his need to find Naraku and make him pay, but he knew now from personal experience that he fought harder and _better _when he had someone to protect and so his absolute unparalleled _need _to slay Naraku after Kikyou's resurrection probably actually increased his odds of survival; failure a second time was simply not an option.

Still, he had not been expecting Kagome to voluntarily stay in the fight as well, especially since he knew she was only coming to his world temporarily to restore the broken jewel and, technically, Kikyou could do that part for her. He'd tried to free her from her obligation, from her guilt and need to stay, and knowing that her _need _to stay because of her guilt over the jewel had been absolved with Kikyou's resurrection Kagome had instead _chosen _to keep coming back simply because she wanted to be there for him. Baffled, he'd asked her in turn, just to be sure. He'd asked her "You'll stay with me?" and she'd nodded her head yes, but they'd never really talked about for how long. He assumed it had been the presumption on her part that she would stay for throughout the remainder of their mission, as opposed to leaving early as he had been about to suggest she do. He was certain that she believed that she had only agreed to continue to see to the end what they had started together, a journey that _would _have an _end_, and that then at _that _time she would go.

That didn't stop him from wishing she would one day change her mind, of course. Sometimes, every once in a while, he had nasty fantasies about giving into his feelings for her, and that she would go along with it because the maturing woman in her did honestly find him attractive as a man, and that after making love her feelings of friendship for him would blossom and turn into the same level of affection that he already felt for her, and that she would then agree to stay with him forever. But kami forbid she would still choose to go back to her own time in the end, and that she would somehow feel used because of what had happened between them. She wasn't just some piece of ass, like the way Miroku seemed to see every woman on the planet outside of Sango whom he seemed to have some sort of genuine feelings for. But so the last thing Inuyasha wanted to do was give into his _lust _for Kagome and inadvertently allow her to believe that there wasn't any _love _to go along with it. Miroku had told him once, "It is better to want what you don't have than to have what you don't want." and Kagome thinking he had _used _her in any way was definitely something he did _not _want, so if it meant never acting on the few times he thought she might possibly be feeling physical attraction for him then so be it. He would miss her terribly after she was out of his life, but in the mean time he would cherish her friendship, and after she was gone he would make sure to always remember the lessons she'd taught him. He was perfectly okay just the way he was, as a hanyou. It was okay to care about people and to let people care about him in return. It was important to always do the right thing, even if sometimes nobody would appreciate it, and to not let his experiences with negative people prevent him from seeing the good in others. And of course, sometimes, it was okay to talk about your feelings.

Provided the two of them both lived to see Naraku-free days, with Kikyou peacefully at rest and the Shikon no Tama purified, then maybe, just maybe, Inuyasha would swallow his pride and tell Kagome how he really felt, not in an attempt to guilt her into staying with him, but simply because he felt she deserved to know. Maybe she actually deserved to know now, but he didn't want to risk screwing up their friendship. He didn't want her to see him as another Miroku and feel as if she had to defend herself against his advances like Sango and the monk. It would put a strain on their relationship, _especially _at times like now, as they ran through the forests and over the mountains, if she would feel awkward to be in such a position with him after learning of the thoughts that usually ran through his mind whenever he held her thighs so tightly.

His cheeks flushed just thinking about it, and he had to shake his head a bit to get his head back into the game and better focus on where to place his feet.

No, he would definitely wait to tell Kagome until after the mission was completed, provided he told her at all, so that then as she let him down gently that she didn't see him as anything more than a good friend he could offer her a sad smile, acknowledging that he knew that already but that he'd just wanted her to know how he felt, and there wouldn't be any awkwardness between them because she'd be disappearing from his life after that. Sometimes he fantasized that she would in turn suddenly reveal that she _did _feel the same way and she would jump into his arms happily agreeing to stay with him, but he knew that was just a silly wish that would probably never come to be. Still, it didn't hurt to dream, right?

"Oomph." Kagome quietly vocalized as Inuyasha unexpectedly missed a step and had to correct mid-jump.

"Sorry..." he sheepishly apologized.

Okay, yes, it _did _hurt to dream, at least while he had to stay focused on his surroundings. Jumping through the treetops might come natural but he still had to pay at least a _little _attention to where he put his feet.

Clearing his mind for the time being, then, Inuyasha brought his thoughts back into the here and now and concentrated on pushing it even a little bit faster if he could manage it, because they really did need to get to their friends and make sure everything was all right.

They were about two hours in on their run when another stupid lower youkai showed up out of nowhere, looking to get its filthy paws on their jewel shards. Figuratively speaking, at least.

"Damn it!" Inuyasha cursed as he scented the oncoming attack – which had thankfully come from _ahead _of them – maneuvering himself and Kagome mid-leap so that the energy blast that came at them from the ground hit the tree branch they _would_ have landed on.

Kagome gasped in surprise, and Inuyasha could immediately feel her reiki rise to the surface a bit, as the miko in her instinctively tried to sense her surroundings, but whatever had shot that blast of youki at them was so weak that even _he _couldn't feel its presence now that its youki levels had gone back to whatever was apparently normal for the creature. Just as he thought that, however, he both felt and scented its youki increasing in strength again, and his eyes immediately widened in understanding.

"Incoming!" he shouted to Kagome before quickly taking evasive maneuvers once more, another ball of youki hitting the spot where they had just been standing.

Jumping down from the trees to land on the forest floor with barely a sound, Inuyasha let Kagome climb down from his back and held out his arm for her to hold onto for a moment while she stabilized herself. One negative to traveling like that non-stop was that it usually took her a second or two to find her legs. Quickly enough, though, Kagome released his arm and nodded his way with a look of determination as she reached for and notched an arrow. Turning in all directions, Inuyasha breathed deeply, completely ignoring the lingering scent of what he believed was Kagome's arousal because that simply wasn't the time or place to worry about such things, and clearly she knew that as well since he could tell the scent was well over an hour old. Ignoring that and filtering through all of the other scents of the forest he finally found what he was looking for, and turned to stare in that direction just as another blast of youki sailed towards them.

Quickly drawing and transforming Tessaiga he effortlessly deflected that latest blast, and then informing Kagome to stay back and be prepared to dodge out of the way of one of those energy balls if need be he then rushed forward, sword at the ready.

Coming upon the snake in the grass, an actual snake-youkai that was hiding in the tall grass, Inuyasha couldn't help the amused smirk that climbed its way up his lips as unexpectedly intelligent eyes widened comically large, as the snake suddenly feared for its life, and rightfully so. Its mouth was still hanging open, although he didn't think it was gaping at him in its shock; it was clear to Inuyasha that the hebi-youkai had actually been launching out its youki balls from its mouth. Then it slowly closed its mouth, as if cautiously trying not to make any sudden moves, and then without a single word, although Inuyasha wasn't even sure if it could talk, the low level snake-youkai immediately turned tail and slithered off into the thickness of the forest as fast as its dorsal muscles could propel it. Apparently it'd thought that a sneak attack might just do the trick, and it had in no way, shape or form been prepared for an actual one-on-one confrontation with the inu-hanyou.

_Heh_ ..._smart serpent_...Inuyasha thought with a chuckle, sheathing Tessaiga while undoing its transformation at the same time so that it looked like he was somehow magically shoving the giant demonic fang-sword into a normal, skinny scabbard.

"I always think that looks so neat whenever you do that." Kagome said, coming up behind him.

"I told you to stay back." he pointed out, turning to glare at her a bit, even though he'd of course known that she'd started to approach him the second the snake had turned and slithered away.

"I might not have been able to sense the youki of whatever had been attacking us, but one thing I learned long ago was how to tune into _yours_, and you relaxed, no longer feeling agitated, so I knew it had to be safe."

"Keh."

Letting it go, since he knew she actually had a valid point, Inuyasha just turned and presented Kagome with his back, and having already tucked her unused arrow back into her quiver she quickly climbed on board. Taking a second to get herself situated again, so that she could securely hold onto him while also still maintaining a tight grip on her bow, Kagome then said "Okay, I'm ready." and at her say so they were off, racing across the ground for a moment before Inuyasha launched them back up into the trees.

oooOooooooOooo

Watching from his place high overhead in the sky above as the hanyou and miko took back off through the forest after that pitiful excuse for a snake-youkai failed in its own miserable attempt to defeat the famed duo, Hieibakai only smiled evilly to himself, knowing that unlike the sniveling weaklings that had been coming after those jewel shards in droves since Naraku's disappearance, _he _would be successful in his plan to acquire them. He actually _had _a plan, unlike those brainless buffoons. Watching as the inu-hanyou easily defeated, or sometimes even just _scared off _the pathetic vermin coming after them was highly entertaining. Hieibakai was no fool. He knew quite well just how powerful that inu-hanyou actually was, thanks to that sword of his, and then there was also the strangely dressed miko, carrier of the shards, who while clearly untrained just radiated with spiritual power. He knew he could not just charge into battle and honestly hope to be successful against them.

_Not without a little insurance_ ... he thought with an amused grin, patting the side of his robes where he held a special bundle wrapped up in a carrying cloth. It was very beneficial doing business with witches.

At first, Hieibakai had thought for sure that he would have to face off against all six members of the Inu-tachi. The kitsune he wasn't worried about, although the taijiya and her nekomata companion would have been a troublesome duo, and that kazaana of the monk's was _not _to be taken lightly. Fortunately, he had come up with the perfect solution to deal with all of them. He had been watching them for a few days now from a safe distance, biding his time, just waiting until he'd felt it in his bones that it was the perfect moment to strike. He had actually been just about to make his move when that tanuki had started coming towards them from the eastern mountains, and he'd quickly maneuvered himself higher into the sky before the raccoon-dog had had a chance to notice him. He had then proceeded to creep a little bit closer, to monitor the situation, but without alerting the others to his presence. Fortunately they had quickly become distracted to any outside stimuli by the tanuki's words, and after realizing that the tanuki hadn't been another random youkai after the Inu-tachi for their jewel shards but instead was a companion of theirs seeking their aid, Hieibakai had made sure to follow after them at a safe enough distance so as not to be detected. He wasn't _about _to lose his opportunity to get those shards. He had thought that perhaps he could use the chaos of them battling this other foe to his advantage.

Underhanded?

So what?

Of course, what had ended up happening instead had turned out to be _so_ muchbetter, as he'd witnessed the hanyou and miko depart from their other companions to battle that grotesque forest-oni, and Hieibakai had grinned in wicked delight to realize that there was a jewel shard down in that human village, meaning that the miko now had six in her possession instead of five. Ah, fate. He'd known there had to have been a reason why that damn tanuki had screwed up his earlier preparations to strike; the kami were truly on his side, he cackled evilly under his breath. Now he only had to face off against the hanyou and miko themselves without their other companions getting in the way, _and _he would get another jewel shard as a reward for his patience. Life was good.

Continuing to follow the pair from what he was sure was outside of their sensing range, Hieibakai smiled, truly pleased with himself. They were nothing but dots to him at that distance, but being so far above them also allowed him to see what was coming up ahead. The trees would be thinning out soon enough, forcing the hanyou and miko back down to the ground as the mountain forest gave way to valley field, and they would have nowhere to hide once that happened. That was when he'd make his move.

oooOooooooOooo

Kagome and Inuyasha, unaware of the pending danger, continued to remain lost in their own thoughts as they zipped together through the treetops, although this time their inner monologs had remained far less tantalizing. Kagome's mind was focused on their companions, hoping that everything was okay at Mushin's village and that her and Inuyasha's delay had not become a hindrance towards the others' ability to combat whatever assailant was behind this strange attack. Inuyasha, on the other hand, was keeping his senses on high alert, to the best of his ability, although he was marginally preoccupied with worrying over what Naraku could possibly be up to. The more sniveling, cowardly youkai vermin that clearly didn't have the balls to face off against him in a real fight showed themselves, the greater the indication it was that the dark hanyou had truly hidden himself but good. These lowly beasts thought of self-preservation before _all _else, sometimes even including their desire for the jewel shards, which meant that there was definitely no way in hell they would've crawled out from underneath whatever rocks they usually hid below unless they _knew _it was safe.

So then where the hell was Naraku?

Inuyasha knew that the dark hanyou was never necessarily their _only _enemy, though, and so stretching his senses again in that moment, he flared his youki in an attempt to better ascertain if everything was still all clear. Something was bugging him, prickling the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He couldn't sense any demonic auras besides his own from anywhere within the nearby vicinity, and whatever faint auras he could pick up on at the very edge of his awareness were far too weak or distant to be considered a threat. If somebody with the ability to do so stretched their senses out far enough, then they'd _always _sense a demonic aura or two from just whatever random youkai happened to be in the area, but that certainly wouldn't necessarily mean that those youkai were for sure going to jump out and attack them at any given moment. Checking again just to be sure, he confirmed that all seemed calm in that regard. Nothing was close enough to appear to be a threat; most lowly forest youkai were actually scurrying out of the way as they approached alongside their mortal woodland counterparts.

For the most part, Inuyasha knew that most lower youkai actually gave him and Kagome a wide birth whenever they came near, sensing how strong they were, especially together, and knowing right away that trying to fight them for the shards they carried simply wasn't worth it. At least while the shards were kept so pure and therefore couldn't pollute the minds of weaker youkai that would turn wicked within a heartbeat if the aura of a _dark _shard had the opportunity to influence their behavior. So long as the shards were pure then the only youkai that were ever after them, no matter how low on the power scale they were, were youkai that were intelligent enough to _choose _to go after the shards, seeking them from a place of calculated greed as opposed to mindless lust, as would be the case with a tainted shard calling upon their inner beast. Scanning the surrounding forest with his mind's eye one last time, the hanyou confirmed with finality that he could feel no demonic auras closing in on them from any direction; whatever auras he could feel at the edge of his senses were keeping their distance, and he chalked it up to various forest youkai that didn't want any problems giving them a wide birth as they passed on through.

Taking a deep breath through his nose, Inuyasha couldn't scent anything that seemed suspicious, either, and if something or someone that could mask its youki was actually creeping up on them from behind faster than he was traveling then that air pressure disturbance as they crashed against his wake in the wind would be something that he would feel as well. No, there was definitely nobody standing in their path ahead of them that seemed like a threat, and there was definitely nobody trying to sneak up on them from behind, either. Something still felt 'off' so he would definitely keep his senses on alert, but so far he didn't actually think that there was anything specific he needed to worry about.

It was just too bad that Inuyasha never thought to look _up_.

Kagome did, a few times in fact, as something started prickling against her miko senses as well, almost like a sense of foreboding closing in on her, but their unseen enemy was much too high above to be spotted by human eyes squinting against the brightness of the midmorning sun. Telling herself that it was only her thoughts about whatever could be attacking Mushin's village that was putting her on edge, Kagome did her best to stop worrying about it, knowing there was really nothing they could do until they got there. Getting herself all worked up over the unknowns wouldn't help her friends anyway, so she needed to remain calm. Having felt the flare in Inuyasha's youki as he'd undoubtedly scanned the surrounding area with his own senses, Kagome took his lack of reaction as reassurance that everything was in fact all right as far as the two of them were concerned.

Roughly an hour after their run-in with the hebi-youkai Kagome noticed it right away as the trees starting thinning out. A few times Inuyasha leapt down onto the ground before pushing back off, again launching them from tree to tree before then landing on the forest floor once more. She knew he preferred running across the treetops whenever possible, but as they finally finished descending the wooded mountain they had been traveling over the forest abruptly came to an end and they entered a field of tall grasses.

Kagome wasn't that familiar with the topography of sixteenth century Japan, although she was almost certain that the beautiful valley they were now running through had been destroyed by her time to make way for one city district or another; she felt truly gifted, at times, to be able to see her country as it had once been. How many people got to live out such an incredible fantasy, truly? As far as she knew she was the only one who had ever been blessed with the gift of time travel. Well okay, her and Inuyasha, but that was different. He got to travel into a fantastical future, but he was disappointed by what he saw, always complaining that it was loud and smelly and confusing. His time wasn't confusing to her, and it was quiet, and smelled good. It was just too bad that the majesty and wonder of it all and her ability to travel into the past was tarnished with the harsh truths of greed and murder. It wasn't called the 'Warring States' era for nothing.

Monsters and dark magic, pain and suffering...Kagome tried her best to stay lighthearted and optimistic, but she certainly wasn't as naive as she'd used to be. Yes the world was full of good people, but it was also full of bad people, monsters and humans alike, and she knew it was her sacred duty to help tilt the balance towards the side of good. It was about more than just putting the shattered Shikon no Tama back together and defeating Naraku, or at least it was now. The kami had chosen her, sent her back into the past, and while it was true that at first all she'd wanted was to return to her own time and forget that all the craziness had ever happened, she'd since seen and done far too much to ever be foolish enough to think that she could even _pretend_ to be like the so-called 'normal' kids of her century.

Yes, it was true that she had originally decided to keep coming back into the past solely because she'd believed that collecting the sacred jewel shards was her responsibility and because she was the only one who could properly purify them, and yes, it was also true that after Kikyou had been resurrected, somebody who could actually take over her duty of collecting the shards if she wanted to, Kagome had chosen to keep coming back into the past anyway to be with Inuyasha, because she loved him and wanted to be with him even if she couldn't be 'with' him how she'd _really _like to be, but honestly it was more than that now. Much more. Inuyasha was still a big part of it, much more than the lingering guilt she still felt for having accidentally shattered the jewel, but even knowing that they would never be more than friends she still continued to journey into the past, putting her life on the line to fight the forces of evil, and so it certainly wasn't a fool's hope of an eventual 'happily ever after' of the fairytale variety between her and the man she loved that fueled her sense of honor and duty those days. Inuyasha was her friend first and foremost, and they were in this together, as friends and comrades in arms. She would keep her love for him tucked away safely in her heart where nothing could hurt it, but in the meantime they had a mission to fulfill, and right _now _their mission was to get to Miroku and the others as quickly as possible and make sure that whatever was hurting those innocent villagers was taken care of, regardless of whether or not Naraku or any jewel shards were involved. What would happen to her and her duty in the past after Naraku _was _finally defeated and the sacred jewel restored she would worry about when it got there. After all, just putting the Shikon no Tama back together again was only half the issue when it came to that; she would still have to figure out how to purify it away, taking over where Kikyou had left off in that regard. Kagome _hated _to compare herself to Kikyou, but the fact of the matter was that she had been born with the Shikon no Tama within her body, and as such, she did know that it was her responsibility, her holy mission in life. She was the chosen one, the Shikon Miko.

_Lucky me_ ... she thought with a roll of her eyes, before stifling a laugh as an image of herself standing proudly in her school uniform with her hands in fists on her hips, and the wide collar of her sailor fuku extended out into a full blown cape flapping in the breeze behind her came to mind. Perhaps a diamond on her chest with the letters SM?

The fifteen-year-old kid in her almost wanted to mentally cheer herself and her friends on like they really were some kind of comic book group of superheros, but this was real life and she knew the situation was far too serious to be trivialized in such a way, even if swooping in to the rescue _was _kind of cool.

Less than a minute after entering the field a sudden blast of foreign youki started clawing at her miko senses, immediately pulling her from her wandering thoughts as her reiki flared to life in response, right at the same time she felt Inuyasha's youki rise in strength as well. Something was suddenly closing in on _them_, and fast...and not to rescue them.

It all happened so fast.

Inuyasha had been concentrating on nothing but pushing his feet to move faster in the less favorable terrain; the softness of the grass and dirt could minutely affect his speed as tree branches, so long as they were thick enough to not be overly flexible, were far more sturdy than grass and dirt because they did not compress under the pressure of his feet as he kicked off. They also had a rougher surface which made establishing grip much easier, unlike soft dirt and grasses of a field that offered poor traction against bare feet. Fortunately it hadn't just rained in the last day or two and so at least he didn't have to deal with running through _mud_, and at least in an open field there would be far fewer places for a potential enemy to hide, so that part was definitely a good thing.

No sooner had that thought formed in his mind, though, then did he suddenly feel an incredible increase in one of the faint youki signatures he'd been keeping a mind's eye on as he ran. Something that had previously been keeping itself at a safe distance was now suddenly rushing towards them, and _fast_. Whatever it was had been too far away, too faint of a youki signature for him to have realized that it was the _same _youki signature that had actually been following them for quite some time now. At that distance there was just no way to distinguish anything discernible from one youkai to the next, like demonic white noise, and so whatever it was had deliberately been keeping itself blended in with the faint hum of distant youkai that Inuyasha could almost always feel in the background if he stretched his senses far enough, and could even still feel in that moment, though they were the _last_ thing on his mind as this one particular youkai charged towards them at breakneck speed. His youki flared to the surface in response, as he tried to get a better idea of what the sudden threat was, and Inuyasha felt both a twinge of pride and fear as Kagome flared her reiki as well, as he brought them both to a dead stop. Pride because it truly pleased him to know that Kagome was powerful in her own right and capable of defending herself in most circumstances, and fear because he knew she couldn't _always _defend herself and it was _his _job to protect her, and he always worried in the back of his mind that one day he would be unsuccessful in that task. No time to think about that now, though.

"What is it?!" Kagome asked frantically at Inuyasha's startled expression, as a nonvocal roaring sound, almost like a flag flapping in the wind, started getting louder and louder to his ears. It was coming from...above?

He quickly looked up, which caused Kagome to look up as well, and her eyes widened in surprise and fear as Inuyasha loudly cursed "Damn it!" and grabbed her before diving out of the way.

Hieibakai, his dark red skin and black wings a dismal contrast against his bright white and golden robes that flapped loudly as he plummeted towards the earth, swooped in on them both so fast that in the split second Kagome had looked up to stare at his appearance in shock his perceived size from her perspective went from a dot smaller than a pea to larger than a basket ball. She didn't even have time to gasp, and then the next thing she knew she was lying flat on the ground, Inuyasha lying beside her as the tengu's massive shadow passed over their bodies. But Hieibakai had not intended to make a reach for them and had been anticipating their dive. He'd held his sword out at the ready for appearances' sake, making the hanyou think he was planning a strike to actually encourage the bodily dive they had just made. Opening his wings wide in the same moment they dodged, he pulled up out of his nosedive to swiftly swoop forward and fly right over them while at the same time quickly sheathing his sword before then reaching into his robes for his special prize. Pulling out the bundle he had acquired from the mountain witch, he smirked in triumph as he circled back around and threw down the entire carrying cloth, which had been wrapped loosely and started to unfold itself during the fall, spilling its contents on the two below. With no other members of the Inu-tachi to worry about he knew that that dose would be _more _than enough to take care of these two alone. Mentally, he was already doing his victory dance.

Just seconds after Inuyasha hit the deck with Kagome, thinking that volant bastard had been aiming to take one or both of their heads off, his bundle hit the ground right beside them and exploded into a massive cloud of white powder, like what one would expect from an opened bag of baking flour being thrown to the ground with similar force. The only real difference was that baking flour didn't really have much of an odor, and the ensorcelled powder now covering them both from head to toe _reeked_ to Inuyasha's sensitive nose. It was a sweet, flowery smell, but almost _too _sweet, and with no discernible flora behind it, like the stench that would result from mixing twenty different types of floral perfumes together with the world's sweetest honey. It stung his nose, his eyes watering, and immediately Inuyasha realized that if he could smell it then that meant he was _breathing _it and he was pretty sure he probably didn't want to do that.

"Shit..." he cursed quietly, quickly getting up and helping Kagome to her feet after what had really only been a small handful of seconds lying on the ground. "Hold your-" he started to instruct, though he knew with dread that he was too late as wracking coughs coming from the miko interrupted his words of warning, the cloud of dust not yet having settled and still floating stagnantly in the air all around them.

They were both thoroughly covered in the mystery substance, Kagome's raven tresses looking more like Kaede's graying locks while the bright green and red colors of their clothing appeared significantly faded from the dusting of powder they wore, but so far there thankfully didn't seem to be any immediate ill effects and so first and foremost Inuyasha knew they had to deal with the fucker who'd covered them with this shit before they could worry about what it was or wasn't supposed to do to them.

"Are you okay?" Inuyasha asked Kagome with concern as she held her right hand to her chest, her bow still clutched in the left, trying to stop her coughing fit as she ran a few feet over to get out of the main cloud of the stuff. He kept one ear turned in her direction while the rest of him remained fully focused on the tengu still circling above them, just watching them as if he were waiting for something.

"Y-yeah..." Kagome managed after a second, her throat horribly dry and her eyes burning. Quickly, though, she drew and notched an arrow, trying to ignore the slight dizziness she felt while trying to draw a bead on her target. She agreed with Inuyasha's thoughts on the matter; they had to take care of their enemy, and now.

_It's a tengu_ ... she realized quickly, recognizing the winged, mostly humanoid youkai from the legends she had read in her time.

Some lesser tengu were more bird-like, with actual beaks, but this guy flying above them had a mostly human face except for his comically large nose. His skin was a dark, blood red and the small topknot of hair on his head was black, as were the feathered wings protruding from his back. His white and saffron robes were styled like those worn by yamabushi. This was no Shinto kami, though, no protector spirit of the mountain forests. The look in his black eyes said it all; like every other youkai they had come across lately, he was after their jewel shards.

"Bastard..." Inuyasha grumbled, doing his best to ignore the slight dizziness he felt as he drew and transformed Tessaiga. "Coward!" he shouted up to the tengu then. "Can't face me like a man so you try some fucking sneak attack? Take this! Kaze no Kizu!"

Inuyasha wasn't fooling around.

Unfortunately, aiming an attack like the Kaze no Kizu up into the air against an agile airborne opponent wasn't very productive. Hieibakai easily dodged, while laughing at the hanyou's failed attempt, and even when Kagome tried to take advantage of his distraction to fire off her arrow straight for where he'd moved to avoid Inuyasha's strike, he easily sensed her purifying arrow sailing towards him and dodged the holy projectile as well.

"You'll have to do better than that." Hieibakai told them both with a smirk, engaging in a pattern of evasive maneuvers so that neither the hanyou nor miko could accurately aim a second attack.

"Damn it." Inuyasha cursed. "Come down here and fight like a man!"

"Dishonorable in battle I may be." Hieibakai admitted with a casual shrug of his shoulders as he hovered steadily in place for a moment. "But I am no fool, half-breed son of the great Inu no Taisho."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes; Hieibakai continued.

"You and your miko, you two have quite the reputation. I will wait until my magic takes effect."

"Damn it!" Inuyasha cursed again. "What have you done to us?!"

Hieibakai merely shrugged again. "I could tell you, but there would be no point; you wouldn't remember anyway."

That cryptic clue had Inuyasha's eyes widening in alarm, and he immediately fired off another Kaze no Kizu, which without prompting was joined by another arrow of Kagome's. Both missed their target.

Hieibakai laughed.

"Fuck..." Inuyasha swore quietly. "Good try Kagome." he added, turning to glance the miko's way, only to widen his eyes in worry at the blank look on her face. "Kagome?!"

"Huh? Oh..." Shaking her head as if to clear away a heavy fog, some of the white dust in her hair clouded around her face as a result, and crinkling her nose and trying to hold her breath she waved her hand in front of her face, attempting to clear the air, though she wasn't very successful as more powder clouded up from her sleeve at the motion. "Yeah...?" she asked then, looking Inuyasha's way with slightly unfocused eyes as she coughed a little.

"Keep it together, Kagome. You gotta resist this bastard's magic." Inuyasha stated, sending concerned glances her way while also trying to keep an eye on the tengu at the same time.

"I am not the bastard here." Hieibakai spoke back up at Inuyasha's words, a wicked smirk in his eyes. "My parents have unwaveringly honored their vow to consort with no others. My father has no human play things with which to disgrace our family line."

"So you know who I am...am I supposed to be impressed?" Inuyasha asked sarcastically, royally pissed off. "Just who the fuck are _you_, then?"

"I am called Hieibakai" the tengu replied smugly, as if his name were his pride and joy.

_Flying shadow of destruction_ ..._? _Eerily, Kagome thought to herself that the name seemed rather fitting, especially with those giant black wings of his casting his shadow over them as he hovered in the sky above.

Suddenly thinking that maybe if she fired first this time that Inuyasha could then be the one to followup with his own strike aimed towards wherever the tengu would fly to in order to avoid her arrow and that doing it in that order might possibly be successful, Kagome quickly drew, notched and fired said projectile in that moment, knowing she couldn't clue Inuyasha in in advance because it would warn their enemy though she also had full confidence that she didn't need to share her plan with Inuyasha because he would immediately understand and play his part all on his own. He did of course, Inuyasha's eyes widening in surprise for only the briefest of seconds as he saw Kagome fire her arrow before he quickly prepared himself and aimed a powerful Kaze no Kizu in the direction Hieibakai started to travel in to avoid the sacred arrow, but despite their best efforts Hieibakai was just too acrobatic; he easily flew around both of their oncoming attacks like he was performing an aerial ballet.

Inuyasha glanced Kagome's way to compliment her on the idea even though it had failed when her woozy appearance as she wobbled slightly on her feet had him by her side in an instant, his free hand on her shoulder.

"Are you all right?" he asked her in concern, unknowingly losing track of their enemy in that moment as he became fully focused on Kagome.

"I..." She blinked, and then turning her head slightly to meet Inuyasha's gaze her eyes seemed to focus a little bit better. "Yeah, yeah I'm okay." she said then, reaching for and notching another arrow as he released her shoulder. "Let's get this bastard."

Inuyasha did a double take at that, knowing that Kagome was most certainly _not _all right if she could cuss so easily, but that didn't mean he didn't agree with her and so nodding in determination he tightened his grip on Tessaiga's hilt and looked back up into the sky.

The tengu was gone.

And without a visible target Inuyasha was quickly forgetting what their enemy had even looked like.

_What_ ..._what was I aiming at_..._? Who attacked us?_

The dizziness he felt was getting worse. Then he sneezed.

"Don't breathe in the powder." he heard Kagome warn, and turning to look her way again his blurry eyes cleared by a faint amount.

"Keh...too late for that I'm afraid." he confessed, before doing his best to shake the crap out of his hair and clothing so that he could _smell _again. He needed to scent the air, needed to know where their enemy had gone off to...whoever he was.

"What's going on?" Kagome asked quietly after a moment, and he stopped his dog-like shaking at the sound of her question to look her way with confused golden eyes, the white powder that had clouded around him slowly settling onto the grass.

"What do you mean?"

"Were we just under attack or something?" Kagome asked, noticing how she had an arrow held loosely notched in her bow even though there didn't appear to be anyone to shoot it at. They were all alone in a big empty field...although they _were _covered from head to toe in some kind of smelly white powder.

_That can't be right_ ... she thought slowly, knowing they shouldn't be covered in white powder even if she couldn't quite put her finger on why she knew that.

Loosening the slack on her arrow to grip both it and the bow together in her left hand she used her right to start batting the powder out of her clothing, herself, ruffling up her hair too and generally shaking herself the best she could to mimic what Inuyasha had just done. Whatever that crap was she wanted it off of her. And why were they just standing there all alone in an empty field, anyway? Where were Sango and Miroku?

Eyes having widened in alarm at Kagome's words, Inuyasha tried to take in their surroundings while she did her best to de-powder herself. He was confused as to why they both seemed to be covered with some kind of smelly white substance, although he somehow knew it just _had _to be the reason for their foggy minds. He believed they had indeed just been under attack, noticing how she had an arrow drawn and also that he held the transformed Tessaiga in his hand. Taking a deep breath, then, he quickly noticed the stench of tengu over the lingering stench of powder and quickly followed the smell towards a carrying cloth that rested on the grass. Knowing what a tengu was and that it was an aerial youkai he immediately aimed his nose towards the sky and quickly found their enemy's trail, heading back towards the base of the mountain and the forest they had just recently exited.

_Sneaky bastard is trying to hide from us, huh? Gonna just sit back and wait until this powdery crap does its job? Not likely! _

His head started pounding something horrible in that moment, a worse headache than any he had ever experienced even when bodily wounded on his human night, but flattening his ears he tried to ignore the pain that felt like somebody was trying to crack open his skull with a hammer and chisel and immediately he took off towards the forest, praying that he could find and kill their enemy before it was too late.

Momentarily confused by her companion's sudden departure, Kagome didn't really know what was going on, but she did know _one_ thing, and that was that she didn't want to be left all alone by herself in a big open field if Inuyasha was running back towards the woods, and so she immediately gave chase in that moment, figuring that he was probably following the scent trail of their unseen enemy and wanting to be there for him with her arrows if at all possible, even though she knew it would take her a little while to catch up to him since he could run so much faster than her. That didn't matter; wherever Inuyasha went she would follow and that was all there was to it. After all, he hadn't told her to stay behind, and so he couldn't even be mad at her for disobeying him.

Suddenly, the most gods awful migraine started threatening to rip her head apart and Kagome had no choice but to stop running for a moment and close her eyes as the instant sensitivity to light made her almost nauseous enough to throw up, but reminding herself that she didn't know where their friends were, and also feeling some kind of lingering concern as if she'd actually been worried about them for quite some time now, she did her very best to ignore the almost unbearable pain in her skull and her near debilitating dizziness to start running again, heading towards Inuyasha who had already made it to the tree line by that point before pausing to sniff the air once more. It would take her several minutes, at least, to cover the distance he had traveled in a matter of seconds, but in the meantime Inuyasha was on the hunt, his mind focused on one thought and one thought only, find and kill their attacker.

Spotting the tengu perched on a high tree branch he smirked, and lifting up Tessaiga he said confidently, "Whatever you're plotting it's not going to work. Kaze no Kizu!"

After the cloud of destruction settled he noted that there was no sign of the tengu, and for the briefest of moments he thought happily that he'd gotten him, although something didn't feel quite right. For some reason that had almost been _too _easy. Turning to look over his shoulder his eyes widened in panic to see that bastard flying straight towards where he'd left Kagome behind in the field.

_Fuck! He was trying to separate us! _ Inuyasha belatedly realized, taking back off towards his miko companion as fast as his legs would carry him, even as dark spots started invading his vision and a loud ringing in his ears drowned out even the sound of his own pounding feet.

Hieibakai laughed joyously as he closed in on the frightened miko, his amusement growing as he observed his spell beginning to take effect in both of them. Getting the hanyou to leave the miko abandoned in the field had been even easier than he'd thought it would be. Perhaps the inu-hanyou had thought with his limited intelligence that leaving the miko behind if their enemy had left the area would be the safer thing to do than to bring her with him back towards their enemy, but even with as stupid as the hanyou probably was under normal circumstances, Hieibakai was sure that if he were clearheaded he would have realized that separating himself from the miko was not a wise thing to do under such circumstances. It was easy to tell that the witch's magic he'd had commissioned was having an effect on them both, and Hieibakai smiled genuinely at that knowledge. They were strong willed, and were clearly both fighting against the spell's effects, but in the end they would lose.

Kagome's eyes widened in panic as she saw a giant tengu swooping in on her, his straight sword drawn and ready to strike. She could hardly think with the horrible pounding between her temples, but she did know she wasn't unarmed and immediately fired her arrow towards the attacking youkai. Hieibakai quickly banked to the left and avoided her arrow, then swooping back around, he raised his right arm and pointed his sword at her, releasing a powerful blast of youki that flowed from the tip of his tsurugi like a lightning bolt. Screaming, Kagome instinctively held her bow in front of her as if it could actually protect her from the blast like some kind of a shield, which she was surprised to see it actually did, as a bright flareup of blue light emerged from the bow and deflected the tengu's demonic energy attack. Quickly, she turned and bolted, running for her life, her splitting migraine forgotten along with just about everything else as _flight _kicked in when _fight _was no longer an option.

Hearing Kagome's terrified scream had Inuyasha's feet moving even faster, the bright blast of her miko energy as she successfully deflected the tengu's attack forcing him to close his eyes for a brief moment though he felt tremendously relieved to have witnessed her survival. Forgetting all about his headache he continued to run, catching up to the miko and grabbing her arm just in time to pull the both of them back down to the ground again as Hieibakai swooped low, that time with the legitimate intention of severing their heads with his sword.

Kagome "Oomph"ed as she landed on the soft grass, unhurt though the dive knocked the air out of her a bit and caused some of the residual powder she was still coated with to rub off onto the grass blades. Inuyasha rolled over onto his back to assess the situation, unknowingly releasing his grip on Tessaiga in the process, which reverted unnoticed back into its dormant state, and then his eyes opened wide in panic as he realized he had absolutely no idea what was going on.

He had absolutely no idea about _anything_.

Quickly sitting up, Inuyasha stared at the woman who was sitting up beside him with wide, hesitant eyes. All he could smell at first was that gods awful powder, though he would have had to be dead to not feel the powerful reiki that was coming off of her in waves, yet for some reason his youki did not appear to feel threatened by her miko aura and so with nothing else making any sense to him he would put his trust and faith in his own senses and instincts. Taking a deep breath in the hope of scenting beyond the powder they were both lightly coated with he immediately realized that he could in fact make out her natural scent underneath it all, and it was actually rather pleasing to his nose. She did not smell like an enemy; his instincts didn't tell him 'Beware!' at the scent of her. Instead she actually smelled very familiar to him, like he was certain he had smelt her before even though he couldn't place when or where – which wasn't surprising since there _were _no whens or wheres in his memory at the moment. His mind was completely blank in that regard. Scenting her again, hoping to jog his blocked memory in any way, he noted that there was also some kind of a strange magical smell on top of her natural odor that almost seemed unnaturally inviting that was also familiar to him though he couldn't quiet put his finger on it, and besides everything else she also seemed to smell a lot...like him?

Kagome observed in growing nervousness as the strange looking, clearly demonic man sitting beside her openly sniffed in her direction. "Who...who are you?" she timidly asked him.

For some reason she actually felt like she _should _know who he was. It was almost as if her heart and soul were both crying out at her to remember him, and the longer she studied his appearance the more she realized he didn't look so strange to her after all, as if she'd actually known him for a very long time and had gotten used to his inhuman characteristics. But try as she might to remember him there was nothing there; no matter how hard she tried to focus it was just...blank, and that was the real reason for her disquietude.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing." he answered then, and his non-hostile tone of voice made her feel a little bit better even as the actual words he'd spoken put her more on edge.

"I...I'm not sure. I can't remember anything. I...I don't know who I am!" she stated frantically, eyes widening in renewed panic at that very realization. Maybe she was supposed to know this demonic man or maybe she wasn't, but she was _definitely _supposed to know who _she_ was.

What was going on? Who'd done this to her? Had this man...?

"That makes two of us." the hanyou stated then, and she opened her mouth to speak before her silver-haired companion suddenly shouted "Look out!" and grabbed a hold of her to roll them both out of the way just seconds before Hieibakai's energy blast charred the ground where they had just been sitting.

They quickly both climbed to their feet, trying their best to shake their disorientation free; that had been too close.

"A tengu?!" the miko spoke up in shocked confusion at the sight of their airborne enemy, not sure why she could remember what type of youkai the flying bird-man was if she couldn't even remember her own name. Maybe it had to do with still knowing the words to other things, like the object she had held in her hand and had dropped during the roll. It was a bow. She could also feel that she was wearing some sort of a backpack as well as a quiver of arrows; some of her arrows had spilled during the rolling and she scurried back to pick both them and the bow up in that moment.

The inu-hanyou was less concerned over the logistics of why he could still remember the things he could or couldn't remember the things he couldn't. Clearly this flying bastard was their mutual enemy, who had done something to the both of them to make them lose their memories. He trusted his nose, and thankfully enough of the powder covering them both had been knocked off by then for him to determine with finality that he and this strangely dressed miko were definitely some sort of companions. How or why he had absolutely no idea, but if they had been enemies then he seriously doubted that the entire front of her body would smell as if she'd hugged him for an extended period of time. The front of his own clothing smelled of her scent in return although nowhere near as strongly as it should if such extended contact had actually happened face to face, but a quick whiff over his shoulder revealed that his _back _actually smelled much more strongly of her, and so perhaps instead of hugging – that thought had him blushing mildly – he had actually carried her on his back in an innocent way since for some reason he knew it would be something that he could physically do. She was only human and so if the two of them had had to cover a great distance at a fast pace then her traveling upon his back would have logically been the best way to go about it. Even though he couldn't remember _who _he was, for some reason he at least still knew _what _he was, and to a point he felt like he knew his body's limitations and strengths. He justwished he could remember the beginning of this fight, so that he might possibly know their _enemy's _limitations and strengths. Just what all could he do with that sword of his? Were those energy blasts it, or did he have other attacks they also had to be wary of?

Noticing the empty scabbard on his left hip, Inuyasha realized he must have a sword of his own, somewhere, but just when he was about to quickly glance around for it the tengu started laughing, a horrendously sinister sound that chilled the inu-hanyou to the bone, as well as the miko, who had just finished collecting all of her fallen arrows. Sparing her only the briefest of glances, Inuyasha knew he didn't dare take his eyes off their aerial opponent.

Hieibakai guffawed loudly at the sight of his handiwork, relishing his triumph. With their individual identities erased there was no way he couldn't win in a fight against them now. Those jewel shards were as good as his. There was no way the miko should still be able to fire off purifying arrows since whatever miniscule training she'd had had now been removed from her mind, whatever instructions her sensei had told her lost on the wind. She had barely been able to tap into her holy powers as it was, and while something like blocking his attack with her bow might have been brought on by instinct in the sheer desperation of the moment, firing a purifying arrow took focus and concentration. As for the hanyou, Hieibakai had done his homework, and reconnaissance into the Inu no Taisho's bastard half-breed son's past had revealed a crude, brass, ill-tempered and sometimes downright violent brat who traditionally thought of no one but himself. He'd heard that the former Shikon Miko had tamed him, and her current replacement even more so, but before falling victim to their feminine wiles Inuyasha had never once given a shit about anybody else, and now Hieibakai wholly believed that he should revert back into his old ways, becoming the 'real' him that wasn't always concentrating on being on his best behavior so as not to upset his inugami-mochi. Now that his experiences with Kagome and Kikyou alike were both fully removed from his mind, Hieibakai actually doubted that Inuyasha would even think to protect Kagome as fiercely as he normally would, since he no longer felt the compassion for her that had developed over the time they'd spent together as he'd become her personal lapdog.

In fact, maybe he could even get the hanyou to believe that _she _was the enemy.

"Why the distrustful look, my friend? Oh, do not tell me that wicked miko's spell has actually gotten to you." he stated with mock concern. "Quickly, step away from her before she can attack you again."

_Wicked miko's_ ..._wait a minute! _said miko thought in panic at the tengu's words, shouting out "I haven't cast a spell, I'm _under_ one!"Something deep down inside of Kagome told her that she and this red-clad youkai were actually allies, but she didn't doubt that if the tengu managed to convince him otherwise then she was as good as dead.

Fortunately for them both, Inuyasha wasn't fooled by Hieibakai's words for even a second. Even if he couldn't smell his own scent covering the miko, which he _could_, there was also the little matter of this winged bastard having fired upon the both of them just moments prior. He might not be able to remember anything about his life up until just a couple of minutes ago, but he definitely remembered _that, _and if he and the tengu were actually allies then why in the hell would he have fired at the miko with him in such close proximity to the girl that he could have died in the blast as well?

_Not fucking likely_ ... he thought, his eyes narrowing. The tengu's words also implied that the miko was faking her own memory loss, and he had smelled no deceit from the girl when she'd made that claim.

"Feh! Nice try, you bastard!" Inuyasha snarled then, cracking his knuckles before leaping up towards the low-flying tengu, whose eyes widened marginally as he quickly lifted himself higher up into the air, just barely dodging the hanyou's claws.

Both demonic men were surprised to witness bright streaks of youki-charged blades flying from the hanyou's fingertips, the blades of youki successfully slicing into the tengu's abdomen and legs, drawing blood, though they were unfortunately all superficial wounds.

"Keh...seems my body remembers how to do a few things even if I don't." Inuyasha stated with triumph as he flexed his fingers with a smirk of satisfaction, before quickly fixing his eyes back on the tengu as something told him if he dared glance away for even a second he might lose track of the bastard.

"Hey, Miko..." he called over his shoulder without turning to look her way. "Think you can actually shoot that thing?" he asked, referring to the bow in her hand.

"I'll do my best." she answered confidently and without hesitation.

Both men had called her a miko, and while she didn't understand why she wasn't dressed like one, and the familiarity of her outfit seemed to imply she _never _usually dressed like one, Kagome concentrated in that moment to see if she could feel within herself the holy powers these two youkai both seemed to believe she possessed. Quickly drawing and notching an arrow, she couldn't ignore how _familiar _that sensation felt, and she immediately realized that even though her personal identity and memories were gone her body still seemed to carry within it the natural skills that she had learned throughout her life.

_If that youkai in red who seems to be on my side can still use his own youki-based attacks then I should still be able to do this_ ... she told herself, sighting along the arrow while praying to whatever inner forces of her own energies would listen to please do this thing for her.

Hieibakai observed with an amused smirk on his face, certain that Kagome's arrow would be powerless and even half expecting her to miss him altogether, since she should have completely forgotten how to use the bow. The hanyou still using his youki had caught him by surprise though looking back on it he realized he should have known that that would happen, since he _was _inu and they were among the top species of youkai that most heavily relied on their natural instincts. Humans just weren't in tune with their bodies the same way. That mountain witch had promised him that this potion would remove their identities, erasing all knowledge of their personal experiences, and so then that should definitely include her prowess with a bow.

It was just too bad for Hieibakai that neither he nor that mountain witch had any idea how the mind actually worked, and that learned skills and abilities that had become second nature to somebody would still be something that they would possess even while under such a spell, even if they couldn't remember learning them. After all, if Inuyasha and Kagome had forgotten _everything _they'd ever learned then they wouldn't even know how to walk or talk, reduced mentally to mere infants. Erasing who they were as individuals didn't erase what they knew of the world around them otherwise. With Kagome still knowing what a bow _was _she also knew, in theory, how to use one; the rest just came naturally.

Letting her arrow fly with a cry of "Hit the mark!" Kagome smiled in triumph the same time Hieibakai's eyes widened in total shock to witness her arrow glowing brightly with pink purifying light as it sailed straight towards him.

He quickly dodged, less gracefully than he had dodged any of her previous arrows, and Inuyasha didn't hesitate to take advantage of the tengu's obvious surprise and distraction to leap back up into the air and slash in his direction a second time, having full confidence that his youki blades would emerge and reach him even though he was higher in the air than he could physically reach with his claws. Inuyasha was right, his energy slicing into Hieibakai a second time because his shock over the miko's unexpected success had made him slower than he'd previously been when he'd been properly anticipating their attacks. Seeing the hanyou's strike hit its mark it was then Kagome's turn to try and take advantage of the moment by quickly drawing another arrow, but Hieibakai was more focused now, having quickly realized the hanyou and miko were still just as dangerous as they had been before. He had been wrong to underestimate them, his own lack in judgment allowing them to get in a couple of lucky hits. No more.

Eyes glowing an angry red, Hieibakai didn't give Kagome the chance to shoot her second arrow, suddenly diving straight towards her with his sword drawn, and "Eep"ing, Kagome didn't loose her arrow but instead dove out of the way, successfully missing getting hit by the blast of youki Hieibakai sent at her. Done playing games, pissed that his expensive commission had not been as successful as he had thought it would be, Hieibakai angrily swung his sword at the miko as he closed the gap between them, intent on slicing her in half where she lay, and he mentally swore in irritation as Inuyasha unexpectedly intervened in that moment, bodily charging the low-flying tengu to throw him several feet back while slashing at his sword arm with his claws.

"Leave her alone, you bastard!" he shouted vehemently.

Inuyasha couldn't explain what it was, but he had an almost overwhelming desire burning from deep within his core to protect this miko at all costs, his heart having nearly flown right out of his chest in a panic at the sight of the tengu almost getting her with his attack, and so having already made the decision to trust his instincts he knew that she had to somehow or another be somebody very important to him. He would protect her with his life, believing unwaveringly that if he let her die while he did not know who she was that later, if he ever regained his memories, the grief would be unbearable. To die protecting her would be preferable.

With that thought in the forefront of his mind, Inuyasha stood protectively in front of the miko as she shakily climbed to her feet, a quietly murmured "Thank you." leaving her lips that he responded to with a brief "Keh." though he did not take his eyes off of their enemy. "Don't worry, I'll protect you." he added, and the tone of his voice was so sincere, so confident, that Kagome knew in that moment that he was definitely her partner, but more than that, her guardian, and she definitely had nothing to fear from him, youkai blood or no. They were in this together, and he would _not _let the tengu hurt her.

Landing on his feet a few yards away, Hieibakai ignored the blood dripping from his arm as he held his sword aimed straight out at Inuyasha. The move kept the hanyou from attempting another strike, Inuyasha knowing that the tengu could fire youki from the tip of his blade at will. If he charged, the tengu could easily bypass him and fire his youki at the miko behind him, were he to leave her unguarded even to launch an attack, which meant Inuyasha knew he needed to stay right where he was, directly in front of the miko to block her from the tengu's strikes. For the moment, they were at a standstill.

Keeping his claws ready and leg muscles tensed, just in case, Inuyasha assessed their enemy while Kagome peaked herself out from behind him a bit so that she could better keep an eye on their enemy as well, though she was tremendously grateful for her companion's clear desire to protect her. Even though she'd stepped a little off to the right so that she would have a clear shot with the arrow she still held notched in her bow, she stayed back a few paces behind her silver-haired champion, allowing him time to respond to any possible attack sent her way. She would dodge a blast of youki sent her way rather than try to defend herself with her arrow, lest she accidentally hit the silver-haired youkai in the back should he move to shield her. Whoever he was, something deep inside her heart and soul told her that she did in fact know him, and that he was an important person to her, even if she couldn't actually remember anything about him, and the way he had protected her and was still continuing to do so told her that he also felt the same way. Whatever they were to each other, he felt the same connection she did.

Hieibakai glared hatefully in the duo's direction as they stood defiantly before him. His golden robes were in tatters and stained with blood, matching the crimson coloring of his skin, though they were all just flesh wounds that he could already feel healing. He was no kotengu, but he wanted more power. He _needed _more power. He needed those jewel shards, and with six of them in his possession he would become a true daitengu. Fortunately the hanyou had at least forgotten about his sword, and so with the Inu no Taisho's fang not a concern in this fight Hieibakai knew he still had a good chance of success, even despite the miko still being able to use her arrows. He had to be a little more careful than he'd originally thought, but this was still his best chance to defeat them, while they had no idea who they were or what was really going on. He would not cower and flee to return another day and risk them having found a reversal for his spell by then; he would never get another opportunity as good as this one, with it just the two of them and Inuyasha unarmed.

"This doesn't concern you, Hanyou." he spat in Inuyasha's direction then, the would-be insult not phasing said hanyou one bit since somehow he had already known that that was what he was, although he had no knowledge as to why that should really make any difference.

Knowing he was inu-hanyou in that moment was no different to him than knowing he was male, although he could not miss the way the tengu had clearly meant the word to be insulting, nor did the spike of agitation in the miko's scent go unnoticed as he felt her eyes upon him, but he didn't care what the tengu thought and whatever the miko was thinking as she glanced his way he would deal with later, after the tengu was dead.

"All I want are the jewel shards." Hieibakai spoke back up then. "Hand 'em over, and I'll let you both live." he stated, eyes meeting Kagome's though he still kept his sword aimed Inuyasha's way. With his left hand he gestured to the bottle she wore around her neck, knowing the words 'jewel shards' were probably meaningless to her.

It was Inuyasha's turn to glance his companion's way at the tengu's words, then, surprised and nervous, wondering what her reaction and decision was going to be. Were these 'jewel shards' the strange, spookily enticing magical quality to her being that he had detected that was not a part of her natural scent or aura?

Surprised by the tengu's request in and of itself, Kagome was not surprised to learn of the shards themselves, having already become aware of the little bottle of crystals she wore around her neck by that point even if she hadn't known exactly what to call them. She could definitely feel that they possessed some kind of spiritual energy; she had first felt their presence when she'd concentrated on trying to locate and harness her own miko energies to fire that first arrow, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that handing such things over to this tengu would be a very bad thing to do. She could easily feel how powerful they were, and she could only imagine that a youkai who was clearly wicked like this man was would use their power for evil deeds. She didn't know why she had them in her possession and if they were rightfully hers or not, or even if she herself had been using them for her own personal gain prior to losing her memories, but she didn't feel like a bad person deep down inside and so she was sure that if she had been using them for their power in some way that she had to have been doing so from a place of kindness. They wouldn't be so pure otherwise; she could feel the balance of both reiki and youki within the shards and could easily tell that they were pure right now, their dark sides completely suppressed. Perhaps that was something that she had done herself with her miko powers, purifying them? Whatever the case, logically she just knew that if this tengu got a hold of them they would become tainted with his evilness, and she couldn't allow that. She couldn't let a wicked creature who had been trying to kill her become even more powerful.

Kagome responded to Hieibakai's demand by narrowing her eyes and quickly firing the arrow she'd held at the ready all that time, but he both surprised and worried her in that moment by swiftly pointing his sword her way and firing out a small blast of youki that intercepted her arrow, both of their forces colliding to explode between them in a flash of energy that hurt neither of them. He then immediately had his sword aimed at Inuyasha again, the entire move having taken less than a second, and so Inuyasha had not had a chance to react during the maneuver and was still stuck, trying to figure out what to do next. This bastard was more powerful than he'd thought.

Raising a shaking hand up to cradle the bottle of jewel shards around her neck, as if to better protect it from their enemy, Kagome darted her eyes back and forth in that moment, trying to formulate a plan of her own. Then she spotted something lying not too far away and inwardly sighed in relief, hoping not to reveal her thoughts to their enemy as she shifted herself back to stand more fully behind her hanyou bodyguard again, hoping the tengu would merely think she was growing more afraid of him after that latest display of his power.

"Hey, can you hear me...?" she whispered ever so quietly, hoping those captivating ears on the hanyou's head weren't just for show.

Trying to look casual about it as his right ear automatically cocked her way at the faint summons, Inuyasha briefly glanced her way over his right shoulder, asking "You okay?" for good measure because of her deliberately nervous demeanor although the look in his eyes let her know she definitely had his attention before he quickly turned back to keep his eyes trained on the tengu. He couldn't take his eyes off of their enemy for too long, nor could he let the tengu see them chitchatting, but standing directly behind him now as she was, Hieibakai wouldn't notice Kagome's lips moving, and Inuyasha had just let her know that he had heard her tiny whisper loud and clear.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Kagome answered aloud for their enemy's benefit, before whispering faintly "Sword, back left."

Trying not to show any outward surprise at her words, Inuyasha kept his glare on the tengu, knowing he couldn't let their enemy see him glancing around in an obvious show of looking for the weapon. Unfortunately with the early bedlam of all that had happened so quickly he hadn't yet had the chance to look for where his missing blade might be, and honestly he hadn't even known if it was anywhere nearby or not. He could have lost it somewhere else entirely for all he knew. But if the miko had spotted it now then he knew he _had_ to try and make a grab for it. If he could still use his claws' natural youki attack and the miko could also still fire off sacred arrows, then maybe there was some trick or another that his sword could do, too, like how the tengu could channel his own youki through _his _sword. It would certainly be worth a try, but first he had to locate the weapon for himself, while keeping his search subtle enough so that the tengu wouldn't notice. That would be tricky if it was somewhere behind him and to the left.

Hieibakai, not presently aware of what the two were plotting as he could not hear Kagome's whispered words from his place standing several feet in front of them, spoke back up in that moment with, "Enough. Just hand me the shards and I will leave you both in peace."

Kagome immediately took advantage of the opportunity to shift herself further left, peaking herself out from behind Inuyasha once again but by standing diagonally back from his left side that time instead of his right.

"What makes you think I'm going to take your word for it?" she asked Hieibakai sardonically. "You'll probably kill us both as soon as I hand them over."

Immediately realizing what the miko had intended with her little move, Inuyasha glanced behind himself to meet her eyes again but by looking over his _left_ shoulder that time, stating "Stay behind me." for appearances' sake though his eyes did not truly remain locked with the miko's. He quickly darted his gaze all about, with the tengu unable to tell from his vantage point, and it did not take Inuyasha long to spot what the miko had wanted him to see. The burnt patch of grass lying opposite her several feet back where they had both woken up, where their realities and memories of existence began.

Where his sword lied abandoned on the chard earth.

"I can assure you I will kill you both to acquire them, if it comes to that." Hieibakai stated, still unaware of what was going on.

Inuyasha flashed Kagome the quickest of looks to let her know that he'd spotted the katana and would work on a way of collecting it. Part of him wanted to just make a run for it but he was apprehensive about turning his back on the tengu for even a second. Speaking of, he quickly turned his head back to face the tengu once more in that moment, acting for all the world as if he had _not _just seen his weapon lying discarded on the grass, and then he swiftly shifted himself over to the side some to block Kagome's body from Hieibakai's view, the tengu still unaware of their developing plan and thinking only that Inuyasha was resolutely trying to protect Kagome from him.

A notion that was annoying for the tengu in and of itself since he had firmly believed that the hanyou would lose his desire to protect her now that he had no idea who she was.

Everyone knew that the _old _Inuyasha had never had a mind to protect anyone's life but his own. What Hieibakai failed to understand, though, was that the only reason Inuyasha had become so cold towards other people in the first place was because of the cruel treatment he had received his whole life after his mother's death, being ridiculed, feared, and sometimes even hunted like prey. He had grown up literally fighting for his life on a near daily basis and had remained both hated and hunted by youkai and humans alike until the day he'd met Kikyou. With those terrifying and hardening experiences also removed from his memory Inuyasha _was _being the real him; just like Kagome had always believed, he was really a good guy underneath it all. Even now, without his memories, he would've been doing his best to protect the miko even if his inner psyche wasn't screaming at him so forcefully to do so, but because it _was_, failing to protect her was simply not an option. But while a part of him wanted to just grab her and make a run for the sword he was hesitant because he couldn't remember what all he might or might not be able to achieve with that blade, and if it turned out to be defenseless against the tengu's attacks then he would have put himself and the miko in greater risk for no reason.

It was almost like Inuyasha could feel an inner voice from somewhere deep inside of himself practically demanding that he not just act rashly and without thinking things through, as though perhaps he had a tendency to do just that. It was almost as if he were screaming at himself to not fuck this up by being his usual 'act first, think second' self, even though he had no memory of ever being in any type of battle before. His _body _clearly remembered past battles; his muscles were all twitchy, just begging for action. His body clearly wanted to _fight _this bastard and it actually was kind of hard to force himself to stay still and outwardly calm, but he knew it was because he had to protect the miko. He had vowed to follow his instincts and while his instincts were actually at war with themselves in a way there was also great clarity amid the chaos. Part of him wanted to tear into their enemy, yes, but a much _stronger _part of him knew that he couldn't blindly listen to that other part; a stronger part that knew he had to protect the miko first and foremost, above _all _else. If he were alone then he would've gone after the tengu with gusto, but for _her _sake he knew he had to think about what he was doing. The closer he could get to his blade before making a final dash for it would mean more reaction time to get back out of the way again when the tengu would almost definitely fire at them for the maneuver. Under the circumstances, being slow and cautious, and not taking his eyes off of the tengu, was definitely the wisest course of action. At least while the tengu was also in a stalemate, eyeing them just as cautiously. If he suddenly up and attacked them first then Inuyasha would most definitely grab the miko and make a run for it, but he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

With that thought in the forefront of his mind, Inuyasha shifted himself back a step in that moment, inwardly smiling as he heard the miko take a step back as well. Hopefully the tengu would just think they were inching themselves away from him in their unease and he could gradually get them closer to his abandoned weapon before their enemy realized what was up. The katana rested behind them and off to the left, so hopefully he could get them back far enough that they were even to it and then just a quick dash off to the side would be all that was needed to reclaim it.

"You can try, but you won't be successful." Inuyasha stated then, hoping to keep the tengu distracted in conversation as an added precaution to hide what they were really plotting.

Understanding the silent plan, Kagome kept up her end of the bargain, matching his subtle pace backwards step for step. Narrowing his eyes, Hieibakai began approaching them at the move, though he was also maintaining the same pace they were for the time being, not trying to close the gap between them but instead simply not letting them create a larger gap. He didn't seem to be aware of where they were headed, Kagome noted. So far so good.

She wished she had noticed the katana while gathering her fallen arrows, the blade lying on the small patch of charred ground where both she and the hanyou had been sitting prior to rolling out of the way of that first deadly blast; she would have given it to him in a heartbeat had she seen it. As it was, everything had happened so fast, the tenu laughing and trying to trick the hanyou and the hanyou in turn attacking the tengu with his claws _right_ after she had finished collecting all of her arrows, and then suddenly she was firing an arrow and dodging blasts of youki and nearly getting cut in half, her companion fully focused on their enemy after saving her life. While she had noticed the empty scabbard on his hip earlier in passing she hadn't had time to even think about looking around for where the sword might have possibly been until after that fast-paced craziness had subsided, when she had finally spotted it.

It was all beaten up looking, too, probably a result of being hit by the tengu's blast of youki, and that thought had her worrying her lower lip somewhat, though it did still seem to be intact, and either way it was a weapon. It clearly belonged to her hanyou companion; the empty scabbard still at his side was a dead giveaway. She didn't know what he would or wouldn't be able to do with the katana, but considering the tengu had a tsurugi she was sure it would be better for her partner if he were also armed. If he could still use his natural born youki-based attack from his claws, and she could still fire purifying arrows, then maybe he would still know how to use his sword, too, assuming he had been skilled with it in the past. Besides, the tengu's straight sword looked normal but he could clearly use it as a demonic weapon of sorts, channeling his powers through it, and so maybe that rusty old katana had a few tricks of its own; maybe the hanyou could channel his youki through it as well. It was worth a shot.

"I am more powerful than you think, Hanyou." Hieibakai countered, narrowing his eyes at Inuyasha.

_Something tells me that __I'm__ more powerful than I think, too_... Inuyasha thought, although he didn't say that part out loud, scoffing instead with a mere, "Feh!" before he then made a show of cracking the knuckles on his right hand, claws raised, hoping to reenforce within the tengu's mind that he supposedly thought his claws were his only weapon.

With the hanyou and miko both pretty much on the same page, slowly, they took another step backwards. Then another, and another. Hieibakai, not yet noticing where they were headed, truly did only think they were backing away from him in an attempt to increase the distance between them, though he wasn't so sure it was just in their nervousness. He believed they had probably come up with some kind of a plan that somehow or another required they be further away in order to have enough room to do whatever it was they were plotting, and so he continued his own approach in that moment, matching them step for step, so that they would not be able to accomplish whatever it was they wanted to do by getting further away from him. He imagined that at any moment now they might switch to plan b and take off running, but he could easily catch up to them if that happened. They had nowhere to run _to_, exposed as they were out in the big open field. He could play their little game of cat and mouse; those shards _would _be his.

Still, he knew better than to just charge them headlong; they were still very powerful since they could still use their magics and therefore he had to be cautious. He was actually using this temporary stalemate to try and come up with his own plan of attack. He could fire off a much larger blast of youki from his sword than what he had done so far, but the reason he had not yet done so was because it would temporarily drain him. Only for a minute or two, but that amount of time could be an eternity in battle. If he obliterated only either the hanyou or miko alone with that blast then he would, no pun intended, be a sitting duck for the survivor to launch their own revenge assault. Drained of his strength he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against either of them. So that meant he had to save that ace in the hole for when he was absolutely positive he could get both of them together in one shot, and so far he did not have that confidence. If he fired it at them now there was more than enough distance between them that he was sure the hanyou with his lightning reflexes could just grab the miko and launch them both out of the way, and that would be _very _bad. No...he'd have to get closer to them first, or at least somehow get the hanyou distracted enough to not realize how large the youki blast he was charging up was until it was too late. Hieibakai knew that the ideal shot would probably be as the hanyou was already in the air mid-leap aiming to get _him _with another youki-claw attack, unable to maneuver out of the way in his momentum, with the miko directly behind him and within his attack's trajectory. Yes, that would be perfect. He would do his best to keep his eyes open for such an opportunity, and if he could not yet acquire the jewel shards by the time he _was _faced with such an opening then that would be what he would do.

As for right now, there was really no point in firing off a lesser blast of youki their way since he knew they could easily dodge. Keeping his sword aimed straight at them, that was just what was preventing them from rushing _him_, because if they tried a direct attack of their own then he would most definitely fire in that case. He couldn't risk letting them think they actually had the upper hand in this.

They took another step backwards, and he took another step forward.

As Inuyasha continued to eye the tengu warily he wondered what was running through their enemy's head, although he was glad the bird-man had not yet thought to either fire a blast of youki at them or bodily charge them with his blade. Not that he couldn't get both himself and the miko out of the way in time even if the tengu did try such a maneuver. Perhaps that was why their enemy had not yet attacked them again in such a manner, because he knew it would be futile. That had to explain why he had suddenly switched to _asking _for the jewel shards, because he had realized that it wasn't as easy to just up and _take _them as he had believed it would be. Inwardly, Inuyasha chuckled victoriously at the thought. Not even knowing who the fuck they were or what all they were capable of he and this miko were still a kick-ass team. That meant they were probably _formidable _opponents under normal circumstances. Probably the reason this tengu had erased their memories in the first place was because he had thought it would make them easier targets, knowing he was ordinarily no match for them. The thought had Inuyasha mentally puffing his chest in pride, though he wasn't too smug to risk making a wrong move. There was no way he was stepping away from the miko in either an attempt to reach his sword or attack their foe; his place was by her side, protecting her at all costs. Inuyasha would swipe at the tengu with his youki-claws from where he stood in a heartbeat if he actually thought his go of it would be any more successful, but he also knew that the tengu could just as easily dodge or deflect an energy attack sent his way from that distance, and right now, while the bastard was actually on the ground, Inuyasha wanted to keep it that way. If he tried to attack the tengu with his youki the bird-man would probably just take back off up into the air again, and that would put he and the miko at a big disadvantage.

Of course, as soon as he managed to claim his sword the tengu would probably still take off into the sky, but at least then he would have successfully reclaimed his weapon. He couldn't say what it was, exactly, but the feel of the scabbard on his hip was just too damn familiar, and the desire he was feeling to reclaim the katana was _almost _as strong as the desire he felt to protect the miko; that sword was clearly important to him and he wanted it in his hand, regardless of how beat-up looking it had appeared in the brief moment he'd glanced its way.

As if the sword itself had somehow sensed his thoughts, an unexpected pulse of youki hummed against his senses in that moment, and Inuyasha's eyes widened in surprise to realize that it was actually the _katana_ that had pulsed, as if it were speaking to him, the blade somehow in tune with his own demonic aura. There had already been no doubt in his mind that the sword was his, but now, there was also zero doubt that it was more than just a mere sword. In some way or another, it was a demonic weapon, with an aura all its own, and it wanted to be reunited with him just as strongly. Inuyasha had already promised himself in his confusion that he would not second guess his instincts, and that included protecting the miko, and now, acquiring this sword, no matter what.

Tessaiga pulsed again.

Hanyou and miko took another step backwards.

Hieibakai took another step forward, and frowned, wondering what could have run through the hanyou's mind to give him that fleeting look of surprise. Better to make his move before the hanyou could put whatever thought he'd just had into action.

"This is your final warning, miko." Hieibakai stated then, letting the tip of his sword begin to glow slightly with his youki though the miko could not see it from her place standing directly behind the hanyou. Inuyasha could see it, and his eyes narrowed at the threat although his only response was to take another step backwards.

"Grab onto me, just in case we gotta move quick." he murmured quietly, feeling his inner beast calm slightly in relief at the feel of the miko's hands immediately gripping his shoulders, her bow slung over her right. That felt awfully familiar, too, so they had clearly done it before, and more than just the once to explain the scent transfer he'd already detected. For it to feel so _right _it had to be something that occurred on a regular basis. Hopefully he wasn't the only one who could somehow sense what seemed so right and natural between them.

He wasn't, Kagome immediately realizing how secure, safe and protected she felt simply from clutching his shoulders. She had also felt the pulse of youki coming from the katana, and it had startled her, but now she was even more anxious to reach it. The tengu's sword, she could sense nothing from it...it was more as if he could simply channel his power into it the same as she could do with her arrows. This katana, on the other hand, now that it was pulsing...it almost felt _alive _somehow. She was honestly surprised the tengu hadn't felt it.

"I mean it, Miko. Hand over the shards or I will extirpate you both where you stand."

He let the tip of his sword glow a little bit brighter.

Slightly nervous though Kagome may be, she actually snorted, much to Inuyasha's amusement, as she refused to show their enemy fear and peaked her head up to retort with, "If you could really do that so easily then you would have already done so."

Growling in anger, Hieibakai unthinkingly let the miko's words goad him into firing, sending off a short blast of youki their way meant to be a warning shot, to show them he wasn't playing games. It landed where they had both previously been standing, Inuyasha having immediately taken advantage of the shot to reach behind himself and grab a hold of the miko's sides for added security, her hands still tight on his shoulders, as he leapt backwards several paces, the move not suspicious because they were supposedly just escaping Hieibakai's strike.

It would have been perfect, except Tessaiga unfortunately pulsed again as soon as they landed, stronger than before, and as Hieibakai rushed forward to again close the gap between them he was now close enough to feel it for himself that time. His eyes opened wide in surprise to realize he'd been played and that for the last couple of minutes they had been trying to get themselves closer to the sword he had thought they knew nothing about. Quickly, he charged his own blade back up and fired a larger blast, not at the hanyou and miko, but at the Tessaiga itself.

_I cannot let the hanyou reclaim his sword! _ he thought frantically.

The Tessaiga was not damaged by the direct hit, of course, but Hieibakai hadn't been trying to destroy the demonic fang, he'd merely been making a point.

"I don't think so, Hanyou." he snarled as Inuyasha and Kagome both looked his way with wide, startled eyes. "Try to make a reach for your sword and I will incinerate your precious miko."

The look in his eyes meant business, too, and Inuyasha knew their game of inching closer to the blade was over. He was mentally cursing their situation, trying to figure out what to do next because he believed the tengu was serious in that if they tried to make a run for the sword he wouldn't hesitate to blast them. Whenever he fired a shot aimed at where they were standing _now _that was easy enough for the hanyou to dodge, but if he made a run for the sword then the tengu would aim his blast _there_, and they were at about the right distance that he and the youki blast would probably reach the katana at the exact same time. There was no way he could get in and out of there fast enough to avoid the hit, and even if he could survive the blast the miko certainly wouldn't because she was human. Yet he couldn't make a run for the sword by himself and leave the miko unprotected, because then that would pretty much be handing her over to the tengu. So if he couldn't make a run for the sword by himself, and he couldn't bring the miko with him, then what the fuck was he going to do? Unless...

"Think you can make a barrier?" he asked her over his shoulder.

Kagome blanched before realizing it was actually a good question, so swallowing down her nervousness she released his shoulders as she tried to feel around within herself for the ability, her hands over her heart, but she quickly realized she had absolutely no idea how to do it.

"I...I don't think so, sorry."

"Not your fault..." he reassured her, mentally cursing all the same, though only their situation, not the girl. The expression on his face gave away his inner thoughts to their enemy.

Hieibakai smirked evilly at the duo's obvious dilemma, keeping his sword aimed at Tessaiga rather than at them for just a 'friendly' reminder that if Inuyasha tried to make a go of it he would get blasted for his trouble. Ideally, with Inuyasha clearly still being so protective of Kagome, he would not want to leave her side, but Hieibakai was making it obvious that if the two of them went _together_ for the sword that at least _she _would die as a result. He knew that Inuyasha would probably survive the blast, if he didn't give it his all with his most powerful strike, but there was no need to worry about that because it was clear from the look in his eyes that he wouldn't chance it for Kagome's sake. In that moment Hieibakai realized that he was actually fortunate that the hanyou was still so protective of the miko, after all, otherwise he would surely make a go for his sword regardless of her safety, and unless he used his most powerful blast the hanyou would indeed most likely survive his youki attack; he'd heard that the hanyou could take quite the beating, and he also knew that those robes of his helped protect him as well – something the hanyou obviously no longer knew or he could give the miko his suikan for protection and that would be the solution to this puzzle right there. Hieibakai was fortunate that his commission had at least worked to his advantage in _some _ways; while Inuyasha instinctively knew how to use his youki-blades it was clear he had forgotten all about the protective properties of the fire-rat garments he wore.

As it was, Inuyasha knew only that if he and Kagome made a grab for Tessaiga together that that would be putting her in unnecessary risk, yet if the hanyou actually did try to leap for Tessaiga alone, instead – a distance Hieibakai was sure he could now easily make in a single bound – then that would not be the direction he would fire his blast of youki in. In the time it would take for the inu-hanyou to finish sailing through the air and land on his precious sword he would have released a powerful blast of youki headed straight for the miko, and even if she managed to instinctively block his attack with either bow or arrow, he would physically charge her in that same moment. While she was distracted by still shielding herself from his energy blast Hieibakai would run her through with his blade, and he could do it all faster than the hanyou could stop him if he began the maneuver after Inuyasha had already leapt away from her to claim his sword. Yes, Inuyasha would most likely become enraged and homicidal as a result, but even assuming he could somehow manage to use Tessaiga Hieibakai would also then be in possession of the fallen miko's jewel shards, and they would surely make him powerful enough to destroy the hanyou – or at least escape him unscathed. There was really no reason for him to stick around after acquiring what he wanted.

"It appears we are at a crossroads..." Hieibakai spoke back up then in that moment, his voice dripping with fiendish charm. "And either path you choose will lead to destruction."

Kagome reached back up with her right hand and grasped Inuyasha's right shoulder, as if subconsciously seeking support from the contact, and he reached behind himself with his right hand at the feel of her touch, patting her on the side in a reassuring manner. He wouldn't let anything happen to her.

Adopting a solemn expression at the show of affection, the tengu then seemed to manifest an air of almost righteous generosity. "A wise man once said, 'when the road before you splits in two, take the third path.' It is not too late for you both to save yourselves. Relinquish your claim on the jewel shards, Miko, and I give you my word that I will take them and depart, leaving you and your...companion...unharmed."

_Yeah right_ ... Kagome thought sarcastically. _He's already harmed us with whatever memory-erasing spell he's cast on us_.

The way he'd almost sneered the word 'companion' had not gone unnoticed to either of them, though they had far greater things to worry about in that moment than what this tengu could possibly think of their relationship, especially when they didn't even know what that relationship actually was.

"We can't comply..." Kagome whispered softly for the hanyou's ears only, her hand tightening on his shoulder. "I can't say what it is, but I can feel that these jewel shards, they're very powerful, and the idea of handing them over to this monster...every fiber of my being is screaming at me not to do it."

Inuyasha offered her the briefest of glances over his shoulder, nodding his head in understanding, the look in his eyes relieved. He couldn't say what it was, either, but it was almost like the most base part of him, the most animalistic part, was just as attracted to those weird little crystals as the tengu was. Yet at the same time he also understood and agreed with everything the miko had just said; they couldn't hand them over, not because he too wanted them for himself, but more simply because he knew they could _not _let the tengu get a hold of them.

_Fuck_ ..._what do I do? _he thought desperately, eyeing the tengu warily.

The katana chose that moment to pulse again, and he flicked his ear in that direction, unwilling to turn and glance at the sword for fear that the tengu would think he was about to make a go for it and would fire on them as a result. Although, if he fired on them where they _stood_, then that would be the perfect opportunity for him to leap towards the sword with the miko. But he was certain their enemy fully understood that and would never give them such an easy opening. If the tengu got even the slightly hint that they might be making a leap for the sword he would merely fire upon the katana again, and Inuyasha did not trust his reaction time versus the tengu's to try tricking him out, making a fake dash for the sword to encourage the tengu's attack and then leap in afterwards. The bird-man could almost definitely fire those blasts at will and they would merely get hit with the second round.

In his unease and desperation, Inuyasha instinctively reached for the scabbard on his hip with his left hand, finding comfort in the contact. There was a way out of this stymie, he just had to find it.

He was caught off guard when, as the katana pulsed yet again almost as if offering its reassurances after his latest thought, he felt an answering pulse in the wooden sheath underneath his palm. The scabbard, too, had demonic properties? He hadn't felt it until now, but as he caressed the smooth wood in that moment he realized that yes, it did indeed possess a demonic aura all its own, and beyond that it almost seemed to be calling out for the katana as well, as if mirroring his own desire to reacquire his fallen weapon. As he explored this sensation further with his mind's eye it was almost like something from deep inside of himself told himself in that moment to _trust _his weapon, both katana and sheath alike as they were really two halves of one whole, and so in that moment trust it he did.

"Stay back, completely behind me. Don't let him get a shot at you." he murmured quietly to the miko, immediately missing her touch on his shoulder as she took a few steps back to make herself seem smaller behind him, per his instructions. Narrowing the eyes he had kept focused on the tengu the whole time, Inuyasha then, quickly, pulled the scabbard from his obi and held it out sideways towards the sword, glancing his eyes in that directly for only the faintest moment. "Come on! Prove me right!" he shouted, mentally cursing as he realized such a powerful blade had undoubtedly been honored with a name by its smith, which he could not remember. But the sword proved both its loyalty and understanding of the situation in that moment as Inuyasha and Kagome, and Hieibakai, all witnessed it twitch before lifting up into the air and quickly flying straight towards its master blade first.

Not quickly enough, though, as Hieibakai, who was both enraged and terrified, immediately fired a large blast of youki straight towards the hanyou and miko in that briefest of moments they stood frozen to await the flying katana's arrival.

Inuyasha wasn't worried.

Adjusting only the angle of his arm, he held the scabbard more fully in front of himself, horizontally, the move to block incoming attacks feeling natural to him although that didn't stop him from breathing a sigh of relief as the barrier flared to life when their enemy's attack struck true. Either way the miko behind him would have been safe, of course; if there had turned out to be no barrier he would have merely shielded her with his own body, and therefore he had only been gambling with his own safety. Even injured he would have then been in possession of his sword, as he was now, as Tessaiga found its home within the scabbard that he quickly tucked back into his obi before immediately drawing the blade with his right hand. He was only briefly startled as the petite katana flared to life with a roar of youki to transform itself into a massive hybrid sword and inu-youkai fang. Although he hadn't consciously been expecting it, now that he gazed upon the enormous, clearly powerful weapon he held in his hand, he couldn't ignore how _right _it felt, and neither could the miko who still stood fully behind him who had witnessed the entire maneuver.

_Seeing him with that gigantic sword_ ..._I __know__ I've seen it before, even though I can't remember any specific time or place_.

Her memories were just as blank as they had been when she'd first woken up on the grass beside the inu-hanyou, as he had sniffed in her direction with wide eyes, clearly just as confused as she was. But despite not really being able to remember anything, it was as if her subconscious sense of déjà vu was working. At the very least she could tell what seemed familiar to her and what didn't, even though she had to wait until after something occurred for her to then analyze her instinctive response to it. It was better than nothing; just like the hanyou, Kagome had a spiritual sixth sense, too, because she was a miko, and so she was also relying on her instincts while they were all she really had to guide her. Maybe most other human girls would have been terrified of the hanyou, feeling how powerful his youki was, knowing how easily he could slaughter her if he hypothetically chose to do so, but the deepest part of her soul told her without hesitation that she could trust this canine man with her life, and so she did.

As Hieibakai bore witness to the hanyou reclaiming and transforming his weapon, part of him wanted to run for his life, his baser _fight _or _flight _instincts definitely wanting to make use of his wings. But his desire for those jewel shards was still too strong, his will still too stubborn to recognize in advance when he had been beaten. He clung to a fool's hope in that moment that he might still have a chance. After all, he had heard the rumors of how it had taken the hanyou brat a while to learn his sword's tricks the first time around, and so while he was definitely nervous, a part of him honestly doubted that Inuyasha would be able to use the giant sword to its full capacity right out of the gate. If he didn't _know _what attacks it could produce, then how was he supposed to call upon them? It wasn't the same as merely projecting his own energy; the sword itself had its own aura and attacks that it could engender, but only if you used it correctly. Perhaps if he attacked quickly, and without relent, then he could still one-up the hanyou as Tessaiga failed to perform.

What Hieibakai didn't know was that the rumors he had heard about the hanyou's sword were outdated, and there were a few key events that had taken place in Inuyasha's life that Hieibakai was unaware of.

As Inuyasha held the prodigious demonic sword high in his hand he couldn't help but marvel at how light it felt, believing logically that a weapon of its size should be much heavier, even despite knowing he had superior strength compared to humans. This blade, it felt almost like an extension of his own arm, and as a blast of youki sailed towards him from the tengu's sword in that moment he instinctively moved to block with the giant fang before even realizing what he was doing. The sword successfully deflected the attack, unharmed, and he smirked as the tengu's eyes widened a bit in apprehension.

"Ready yourself, Wench." Inuyasha spoke softly then, wishing he knew her name, although calling her 'wench' somehow sounded better to his ears than 'miko' previously had. "The only way we're gettin' outta this is to fight our way out."

That said, he held his sword in a defensive stance, prepared to shift into offensive mode as soon as he sensed an opening. His ears easily picked up the sound of the miko drawing and nocking an arrow behind him, her murmured assurance "Ready whenever you are." following soon afterward.

She hadn't much cared for the 'wench' comment, but under the circumstances she would let it go, prepared and ready to fire off an arrow at the first opportunity.

Concentrating on the feel of the sword in his hand, Inuyasha was surprised, though pleasantly so, as he noticed a peculiar yet somehow familiar scent emanating from the blade itself. It was almost as if there was a swirl of energy circling around the blade, where its aura seemed to cut into the rest of the air around it. He couldn't see any disturbance in the energy patterns, but he could _smell _it, and he knew it was there.

Tessaiga pulsed again.

_Do you want me to swing you? _ he mentally asked his sword, as if it could hear his thoughts and answer him. Somehow, he sensed that the answer was yes. _Fine with me! _he readily agreed, giving the giant blade a powerful swing, slashing in his enemy's direction even though they were still several feet apart.

He smirked in triumph the same time the tengu's eyes widened in terror as a colossal blast of power emerged from his sword to zip straight towards their enemy, carving three massive gouges into the earth that looked like giant claw marks forged by lightening.

Crying out quickly with an eligible "Gah!" Hieibakai launched himself straight up into the air, barely dodging the Kaze no Kizu that he had _not _been expecting the hanyou to be able to master on a first try. His closed-minded mammonism had nearly gotten himself killed.

As the miko's sacred arrow sailed straight towards where he had taken off to, above where he had previously been standing, Hieibakai quickly blocked it with a short blast of youki from his own sword, but then, as he noticed the way the hanyou and miko were standing, with Kagome almost directly behind Inuyasha and the hanyou appearing ready to leap up into the air to send another blast his way, Hieibakai thought that maybe he still had a shot at this, after all. Any sane being would have given up and flown away to save themselves, but whoever said Hieibakai was sane?

_I can't let this fucker get the upper hand_ ,Inuyasha thought desperately, easily sensing the powerful increase of youki coming from their enemy as the tengu prepared to strike again. _We're at a huge disadvantage with our minds torn to shreds, but I for one want to live to see another day, even if I can't remember my own name_...

Leaping into the air, preparing to swing, Inuyasha's eyes widened as he saw Hieibakai actually swing first, as soon as his feet had left the ground. Quickly, he swung as well, praying the energy blast from his own sword would neutralize the tengu's oncoming attack, just as the tengu could do against the miko's arrows.

For the briefest of moments Inuyasha was actually worried, especially noting how massive this particular blast of youki from the tengu was. What if his sword's attack couldn't fully neutralize it? But then both he and the equally nervous miko witnessed something truly amazing happen. The hanyou's attack, although he'd done nothing differently, immediately grew in strength by enormous leaps and bounds as it collided with the tengu's blast of youki, as if merging with their enemy's power and sending it right back at him. As Hieibakai fell to the earth, temporarily too weak to fly, he could do nothing but widen his eyes with that universal expression one wears when they realize they are mere fleeting seconds from death, and then the blast hit him, not missing even though he had dropped several feet because the blast from Tessaiga was _so _large it encompassed almost the entire area.

Worried about possible backlash Inuyasha immediately turned and grabbed the miko around the waist with his left arm, lifting and holding her half flung over his left shoulder as he raced in the opposite direction as fast as his feet would carry him, afraid of accidentally harming her with his own attack. Stopping several hundred yards back, he placed Kagome back on her feet with a softly murmured "Sorry 'bout that."

"No need to apologize." Kagome stated through heavy panting breaths, hand on her heart.

She hadn't been expecting to be picked up and rushed off with like a possession, although she couldn't really say she blamed her companion and honestly, she was grateful. His manhandling was a little rough, perhaps, but not necessarily in a bad way. Actually, a naughty little part of her mind was attracted to his more rugged behavior, although she quickly chose to keep _that_ little tidbit to herself for the time being. Glancing back in the direction where their enemy had once been, Kagome's eyes widened in astonishment to witness just _how _much destruction her hanyou partner was truly capable of.

Following her line of sight, Inuyasha turned to look back the same way, his own eyes widening as he then slowly turned his head to glance at the sword still transformed in his hand, an almost comical 'Did _I _do that?' look on his face that had the miko chuckling slightly when she caught it.

He turned back her way then, a sheepish grin pulling up the edges of his lips and revealing his fangs. The sword in his hand chose that moment to revert itself back into its dormant, katana state, and only mildly startled though he'd realized it would of course have to happen somehow, he sheathed the sword without another thought on the mystical blade. Instead, it was with a growing feeling of dread that he realized the death of their enemy had not restored his lost memories, or the miko's, presumably, otherwise she surely would have said so. He hadn't necessarily believed that killing the tengu _would _restore their memories, but he'd been hoping.

"So..." he spoke up awkwardly then, the miko's thoughts mirroring his own.

"Now what do we do?"


	3. Peace of the Puzzle

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Chapter 3 – Peace of the Puzzle

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"It is coming your way Sango, hurry!" Miroku shouted over the ruckus of the youkai's abstruse wailing.

"Hiraikotsu!" the female taijiya shouted in return, in answer to her partner's warning call, as she flung her massive demonic bone boomerang with an ease that should not have been possible for a woman of her stature.

The weapon spun on its axis with tremendous speed and successfully reached its target, cutting into the midsection of the energy-based youkai that towered above her. Miroku's shakujou strapped to Hiraikotsu's surface gave her weapon the spiritual boost it needed to do the energy-youkai some serious harm, and it screamed as the houshi's purifying powers weakened it by a significant amount.

Bright and early that morning Mushin, Miroku, Sango and Kirara had all headed back down the mountain into the affected village below, little Shippou staying behind for safety, kept company by Hachi as soon as the tanuki returned to the temple after giving Mushin a lift so that he could keep up with the houshi and slayer upon Kirara. The villagers hadn't taken too kindly to the newcomers returning to ask more questions and poke their heads around in more places, of course, but aside from a lot more cursing and grumbling nothing had really changed all that much. Since Miroku was more able to defend himself against a human opponent than his aging sensei he had immediately taken it upon himself, armed with a large stack of purifying ofuda he had acquired from Mushin's temple, to immediately begin placing one ofuda upon every villager's home, in both the hope of determining whether or not there was truly any direct demonic interference going on, and also to block it if there were.

Some of the village men who'd noticed what he was doing hadn't take too kindly to Miroku 'disturbing' them in such a way, either, and a few fists had been swung at his head as a result, but the houshi had easily defended himself without seriously injuring any of the villagers. He had even placed an ofuda directly on the men themselves whenever one of them attacked him like that, just as Hachi had told them Mushin had previously done, and just as Mushin had witnessed for himself already, putting the purifying ofuda upon the affected villagers had done nothing but enrage them further, although Miroku did not believe that particular response was in direct correlation to the attacking youkai doing anything new to them. The villagers were not, in fact, completely ignorant to what Miroku and Sango were doing there, and so most of the cursing they'd heard flung their way as they'd investigated was that they were idiots for thinking there was any type of youkai involved in their lives, that the only _youkai _anywhere near them was that 'damn tanuki' that lived with Mushin, and that maybe _he _was to blame for whatever was going on – not that they honestly believed anything was out of the ordinary – and that Sango and Miroku, and Mushin too, needed to leave them all the _hell _alone. Slapping an ofuda on somebody spouting all of that hatred had gotten the result of them pealing it off in disgust and sneering something to the effect of "I _told _you I wasn't possessed, you fucking moron."

When nothing had immediately happened to any of the villagers when he'd tried to treat it like a normal possession Miroku had realized quickly enough that they were not dealing with a youkai that was actually feeding negative thoughts _into _the villagers, but rather, they were in fcat dealing with a force that was somehow or another draining positive thoughts _out _of them, and therefore there was no youkai influence within them _to _purify. He'd still believed it would be possible to block this energy-youkai from feeding off of the villagers any more, provided they all obediently wore their ofuda or stayed indoors in their warded houses, but since _that _would not be easily accomplished Miroku had quickly switched tactics and began meditating, searching within himself for any indication of where this mysterious emotionally based energy drain could be originating from.

That was when Sango had snapped at him out of nowhere, for thinking that just sitting around on his ass could possibly do any good when they had a youkai they had to find and kill.

Startled, Miroku had calmly explained to Sango that he needed to meditate in order to see if he could stretch his senses enough to _locate_ the youkai in question, and then he had proceeded to ask her if she was feeling all right or if she was starting to feel uncharacteristically angry; an indication that perhaps she was beginning to be affected by the youkai herself. Despite the way she'd snapped at him having made that answer seem fairly obvious to the monk, he needed to know how far the damage had gone, and if Sango could realize it for herself or if perhaps a more direct form of mind control was also a factor involved. Fortunately, perhaps thanks in part to their earlier talk with Kagome while en route to Mushin's temple, and in part due to the fact that Sango's taijiya training made her more resilient to demonic spells, instead of being in complete denial and telling Miroku that he was an idiot – as she was about to do – Sango had suddenly gasped as soon as she'd realized how out of character that thought had actually been, hand to her mouth in horrified shock to realize that she _was_ being affected by whatever it was. Before it could get any worse she had immediately agreed to wear one of Miroku's ofuda, and as the hours had ticked by as they'd continued to try to find any sign of the youkai and she'd shown no additional symptoms, and had even gotten better, apologizing to Miroku for her earlier upset, that had been all the confirmation the monk had needed to know that his ofuda would in fact work if only given the chance to.

It was unorthodox, but with such a volatile situation on the precipice of getting much worse, as fist fights continued to break out all around them, neighbor against neighbor, nobody able to listen to reason when asked why they would suddenly turn so hostile towards one another, Sango and Miroku had quickly decided that the situation called for _drastic _measures. Sending Kirara to quickly retrieve Hachimon, when the tanuki returned – to the isolated area out of sight that they had instructed Kirara to return to – they'd immediately explained to him their plan, and although he was reluctant at first he'd agreed readily enough after realizing it was the only way to save everybody.

With nearly every dwelling within the village baring one of Miroku's ofuda by then, and the monk in possession of more than enough to complete the task, Hachi had transformed himself into a massive, terrifying oni, and had then proceeded to rampage into town. Panicking, most of the villagers had begun to run around screaming, but Miroku and Sango had been able to persuade them to go back home to the safety of their warded houses easily enough, especially after a demonstration by Hachi that he could not breech the wards, reaching for a villager who ran through an open doorway only for his hand to bounce off of an invisible force-field. After several years of living with Mushin in the temple, Hachi knew how to handle himself around purifying wards without getting too seriously injured, and so while it'd made for a good show he was unscathed as a result. Every woman and child and some of the men had all obediently locked themselves indoors after that.

Little Shippou had also come onto the scene right about then, the kitsune having decided he didn't want to just stay at the temple where it was safe if he could do anything to help his friends, and so having eavesdropped on Sango and Miroku explaining their plan to Hachi he hadn't blown their cover, appearing to the villagers as yet another giant monster. Sango and Miroku had recognized him instantly, of course, that bow in his hair a dead giveaway, but the locals had been sufficiently frightened and readily agreed to stay in their shielded houses until given the word it was safe. Uncharacteristically aggressive or not, and whether or not they were still in full denial of there having previously been any youkai attacks happening within their village, they were not yet deranged enough to _not _run and save themselves when two massive oni were wrecking havoc in their streets.

Well, _some _of the village men had taken up arms, prepared to help defend their village, as Sango and Miroku imagined they probably would have done even under normal circumstances and a genuine oni attack, but they had been prepared for such a contingency and knew what to do. Sango had among her many taijiya tablets and capsules in the various secret pockets of her uniform a specific type of smoking pill bomb designed to knock humans unconscious. It had originally been designed for possessed human hosts being controlled by a youkai parasite, but these villagers matched that description closely enough. The smoke bomb would really work just as well against _any _human and so Miroku and Mushin both had to be careful while Sango wore her taijiya mask. The problem was then getting everybody together, although it hadn't been _that _much of a problem.

Aware of the backup plan in case villagers joined the fight, Hachi and Shippou worked together to herd everybody where they wanted them. Fortunately none of the villagers possessed any spiritual powers, or decent weaponry, and so their pitchforks and clubs were not that much of a threat to the tanuki and kitsune. With Mushin playing his part, maintaining a barrier in the center of town and urging all of the armed men to come to him for protection, it had only taken a few minutes for all of the would-be soldiers to gather within the safety of Mushin's barrier, and then, flying atop Kirara, Sango had passed overhead and released a handful of her pill bombs – which Mushin had been prepared for and had both lowered his barrier and held his breath in preparation.

In no time the village men were all unconscious, a happenstance they'd make-believed had been a result of the attacking oni, and quickly Miroku had placed a ward on each of the men, who would be out of it for quite some time. Leaving them in the care of the headman's wife and daughter with explicit instructions to not remove the ofuda as they were to treat against the 'youkai attack' that had rendered them unconscious, they had then pretended to defeat Hachi and Shippou, who'd both transformed themselves into mice to scurry away unnoticed before returning to their true forms out of sight of the villagers.

With every local villager blocked from the _true _attacking youkai, sealed away in warded houses that would prevent any energy-type being from tapping into a mortal's life force, the slayer and two monks had all believed that it was possible their enemy would voluntarily show itself in its rage, which it had done not fifteen minutes later, eliciting new screams from the few villagers who'd dared to peak outside in the brief moment of quiet.

Now Sango and Miroku were facing off against the energy-youkai, but they both had experience dealing with this type of specter and it would not take them too long to defeat it. Mushin helped, flinging several ofuda towards it right after it was weakened by Sango's shakujou-enhanced Hiraikotsu, and as the ofuda made contact and Mushin mumbled a sutra prayer the energy-youkai screamed in agony.

"Everybody get back!" Miroku shouted in that moment, reaching for the sealing beads on his right hand.

Shippou scurried out of the way while Kirara took off with Sango and Hachi grabbed Mushin to make a run for it, just as Miroku opened his kazaana and sucked up the ghost-like emotion-eating youkai. As soon as it was gone the dark jyaki aura that had hung over the entire village immediately dissipated, and everyone sagged in relief to know it was over. The villagers would recover now, with no long-lasting ill effects.

The sun was not quite at its zenith and so it was quickly decided in that moment that everyone would return to Mushin's temple to rest and recuperate while awaiting Kagome and Inuyasha's arrival, which might not be for a few hours yet, depending on how quickly they had been able to deal with that other village's oni problem and also whether or not they could run the distance between villages without coming across any more troublesome youkai along the way. Miroku and Sango were in complete agreement that it would be unwise to head back out, themselves, because then they could easily end up missing their friends, passing by one another, and so the best thing to do would definitely be to stay put, where Kagome and Inuyasha were headed to meet up with them. At least the youkai affecting this village had been successfully taken care of, and so there was no need to worry about that any longer; they could relax. Mushin invited them both to try his latest batch of saké.

oooOooooooOooo

"So..." Inuyasha spoke up awkwardly, the miko's thoughts mirroring his own.

"Now what do we do?" she asked, her tone of voice worried.

Glancing around them in all directions, nose to the air, Inuyasha determined that they were safe for the time being, no other enemies on the approach that he could tell. Or at least, he didn't _think _so. It was still a little hard to identify more subtle or distant smells over that blasted flowery crap that still lightly coated the both of them.

"I guess the first thing we should do is get cleaned up." he stated then, gesturing to the patches of clumped powder still clinging to their bodies. "This crap's gotta be what's fucked with our heads in the first place, so I want it gone anyway, but besides that it's also fucking with my nose."

Crinkling her own nose a bit at his choice of language, Kagome still had to admit she agreed with her hanyou companion. If it was hindering his demonic sense of smell even a little bit then she definitely agreed that they had to wash it off, and besides, what if its remaining presence was what was keeping their memories from returning?

"You're canine, right?" she asked just for clarification, to which he nodded. She'd figured as much based on his appearance and the way he sniffed at things. It didn't surprise her that he still knew at least that much about himself. After all, _she _still knew that she was human. Knowing 'what' she was was apparently separated in her mind from knowing 'who' she was, and it was the 'who' part that was missing. "Think you can manage to sniff out a body of water nearby?" she asked hopefully then.

"I didn't notice any while checking for possible threats." he informed her, and she frowned in thought, before he then added, "Although you've got some water in that pack of yours."

Her eyes lit up at the reminder of the backpack she wore and she quickly shed both it and her quiver as she knelt on the soft grass, Inuyasha taking a seat beside her.

Unzipping the backpack and digging around inside it, Kagome hoped to find both water and a cloth so that they could rid themselves of at least most of the remaining powder still dusting their skin, hair and clothing, but more than that she also hoped to maybe find something, _anything_, that could clue her in as to who she was.

"I wish I could at least remember my name." she murmured aloud, more talking to herself, and Inuyasha's ears lowered a bit at her dejected tone as she pulled out a plastic water bottle and wash cloth from her bag.

"Me too...I can't remember yours _or _mine." he stated, reminding her that they were at least in this together.

She offered him a gentle smile at his words before getting to work wiping herself off.

As Inuyasha observed the miko work he thought that her carrying container for water looked funny to him, but yet somehow still familiar at the same time, and he couldn't figure out why that was although he supposed it didn't really matter. Dampening the cloth, he watched as she first did her best to wipe off the front of her body, her hair, face, arms and legs before then handing the small towel to him and turning around, asking softly if he could wipe off her back for her where she couldn't reach. He complied without hesitation, although he would be lying if he said that touching her even in such an innocent place didn't send thrills shooting through his entire body, but he did his best to ignore what he deemed a wholly inappropriate physical response when this was a serious moment and instead kept his mind focused on the task at hand. After he was finished he dampened the rag some more and then proceeded to wipe himself off the best he could in the same fashion as she had, allowing her to get his back as well at the end, which _also _caused his pulse to quicken though once again he ignored it, along with the way his ears informed him that her heart was also racing.

Once Kagome was done with wiping off his back, mentally cursing herself for feeling so...excited while doing so, she then got a little more water and quickly moved to wipe off both her backpack and quiver of arrows, those items having been coated with the powder as well. Remaining quiet, she hoped that he hadn't noticed just how flustered she'd become from touching him, or having him touch her.

"So, uh..." Inuyasha spoke up after a couple of minutes, deciding to break the awkward silence that had developed between them. He would let her reaction to them touching each other go unmentioned, because if he _were _to bring it up then he'd also have to confess to her that he'd felt the same way, and he wasn't quite sure if either of them were ready to think about what _that _meant. There was something far more important he wanted to clear the air about before too much time had passed. "About...how the tengu kept calling me 'Hanyou'..."

That earned the miko's attention, as she paused in what she was doing to blink up at him in surprise.

"You don't think it bothers me that you're a hanyou, do you?" she asked right away at his tone, her words surprising though also tremendously relieving said hanyou. "That means half youkai and half human, right?" she clarified to be sure she understood the word correctly, and he nodded. She shook her head. "Doesn't bother me at all, although...even if you were fully youkai, if I still felt like I could trust you, then you not being part human wouldn't bother me, either."

"You do feel like you can trust me, huh?" he asked, more confirming what he already knew than expressing amazement of that fact. After all, it was fairly obvious to the both of them by that point that they had each decided to put their trust in each other while facing off against that tengu. "I feel like I can trust you, too." he added for her benefit without hesitation, adding, "I guess...I guess I just wanted to double-check, 'cause you seemed weird about it the first time he called me that, all tensed up, and the way he'd said it definitely made it sound like it was supposed to be insulting."

Thinking back on it, Kagome realized what he was referring to and apologized for her emotional reaction unintentionally misleading him, explaining what had really been going on in her head at the time.

"Yeah, he definitely seemed to mean it as an insult, didn't he? Maybe for some reason it just bothered him that you're half human, like he thought it made you a lesser youkai than him, who was pureblooded, although _that _was clearly not true, since you are way more powerful than he was. But remember, he called me 'Miko' in a kind of insulting way, too, like he just didn't want to call either of us by name, assuming he knew our names. Probably did it on purpose to avoid telling us what they are. I'm sorry if my reaction to his words made you think I'd taken his jibe to heart, though, surprised and put out by the knowledge that you're half and half, but no, it didn't bother me like _that _at all. I mean, the fact that you're demonic is rather obvious, so to learn you're actually half human, too, I look at it as kind of a good thing, ya know? Though like I said it wouldn't really bother me if you were fully youkai, either, so long as I still felt like I could trust you. But for me, a human, knowing you're half human too, I'm definitely not going to think that's _worse _than you being full youkai. I...I just got upset because he was addressing you in a threatening way, angry with you for having saved me, which I'd figured made you a greater target, and then there you were standing in front of me, acting like a human...er, sorry...hanyou shield."

Inhaling slowly, she let out a breath and continued, the look in her eyes sincere.

"Well, him pointing out that you're a hanyou didn't bother me in the slightest, it was just that he was sneering at you. His tone bothered me; I was worried he was about to attack you somehow and I didn't want you getting hurt for having protected me."

Truly touched by her explanation, he immediately assured her, "I don't mind protecting you. I feel like...like that's what I do. It made me crazy to think of you getting hurt during that battle. I would gladly take a hit in your place to keep you safe."

Her eyes widened a bit at his words. Sure, she'd already figured out for herself when it had happened that he was willingly trying to protect her, but to hear him just come right out and admit it like that...

"Thank you." was all she could think of replying with, offering him a soft, warm smile, which caused a light dusting of pink to stain his cheeks. He turned away with a quiet "Keh." and she giggled at how cute his embarrassment was over her gratitude before getting back to work wiping off her backpack and quiver, the awkwardness of stomach butterflies from having wiped off each other's backs completely forgotten by both of them.

Deciding she didn't want to have anything to do with the dirty wash rag after she was done with it, now that it was caked with the last of whatever magical powder had hindered their memories, Kagome flung it away from them both in that moment to land discarded several feet away. There was still another clean wash cloth inside the backpack she had spotted should they need it later for anything else.

Taking a few deep breaths through his nose, Inuyasha smiled. "Much better." he stated, before rising to his feet and sniffing around in their general area.

It wasn't perfect; he could still smell faint traces of the flowery powder that remained in a few nooks and crannies on their bodies, but it was definitely a huge improvement over a few minutes earlier and would do well enough until they could find a spring to properly bathe in. He actually needed to find them some water for two reasons; besides needing to rinse off more thoroughly he'd also noticed how that strange clear bottle of hers was almost empty. There were a few mouthfuls left, but that wouldn't last them for very long. Finding water was definitely top priority.

Digging around in her backpack for a moment longer while her canine companion scented the surrounding area a second time with his newly unencumbered nose, Kagome pulled out the book she had spotted earlier, and somehow recognizing it as a math book her eyes lit up at the realization, hoping it might possibly have the name of the student it belonged to written inside it, which was presumably her. Now that she'd had the chance to more closely scrutinize her outfit she'd realized she was wearing a junior high school uniform, which might explain why she wasn't dressed in miko robes instead, if she were not yet finished with her schooling, although that was only a logical guess, having no recollection whatsoever of ever attending a school of any kind, junior high or otherwise. Even so, she was sure that she _must _have gone to school at _some_ point in her life, especially since she discovered with relief while flipping through the book that she knew how to read, but as the introductory page told her only that the book was the property of the school itself her shoulders slumped in defeat, realizing she must not have bought the book outright and instead was merely borrowing school property. Sighing, she put the book back away and zipped her bag closed.

It was befuddling to the miko how she found she still knew and understood certain things, but yet anything that had to do with who _she _was, specifically, was just completely erased from her mind, or – she hoped – _blocked _in some way by that tengu's magic. She and her friend _would _get their memories back _eventually_, right? Climbing to her feet as well in that moment and hoisting her backpack and quiver back over her shoulders, bow in hand, Kagome followed behind Inuyasha by a few paces as he kind of resembled a bloodhound to her, tracking scents on the ground.

"Smells like nobody else has been here recently at all, it's just us and that fucking tengu." he explained, gesturing to the trampled and burnt patches of grass all around them where the fighting had taken place.

Frowning in thought, choosing to ignore her companion's perpetually crude language for the time being, Kagome took that moment to glance around them in all directions herself. Proportionally, they were much closer to the western edge of the massive field they stood in, relatively near the base of a wooded mountain slope. In the other direction the valley seemed to go on for miles and miles, a distant mountain range resting probably several hours away, at least. It made much more sense to head west into the nearby woods, then, she quickly decided.

"I guess...I guess until we can think of something better to do we should go that way." she stated then, pointing towards the nearby trees. "Not like we can just stand around in this field forever."

"I agree." her dog-eared companion stated without hesitation.

Sniffing around for a moment longer, as if he were looking for something, it immediately caught her attention as he nodded to himself as if in confirmation of whatever he'd been trying to determine.

Before she could ask what it was he explained himself, stating, "I found our scent trail, and it looks like that's actually the way we came from, heading that way..." He gestured to the far off eastern mountains. "Even though that's the way we were going I've got absolutely no idea why or what's waiting for us when we get there, though, wherever 'there' is, and who knows how far away it is? If we backtrack through where we've already been then maybe we can find something or someone that can help us figure this shit out."

If he had detected the scent of other humans in the area, perhaps indicating there was a village nearby, then he would have suggested tracking them down instead in the hope of finding people who might be able to help them figure out how to lift the spell, but because there were no scents in the nearby area outside of their own that told the hanyou they were in a fairly secluded area. They were on their own.

"Besides that," he added then, "the forest means shelter from the sun and other airborne youkai, plus we're also much more likely to find food and water among the trees."

Kagome nodded her agreement to that last statement, indicating she'd thought of the same thing herself. They didn't have the supplies needed to make the several-hour journey across the open field towards the eastern mountains; they had nothing to eat, and they'd run out of water before they made it to the other side.

At first it wasn't mysterious to Inuyasha that they both knew all that, of course, that the mountain forest equaled streams to replenish their water and game for hunting. Something like that was common knowledge, wasn't it? But as he continued to think about it a moment longer he realized he really was curious about what all he and the miko still knew versus what they did not know. Earlier he hadn't cared, while they'd had a tengu to dispatch, but now that the immediate threat was gone the only real danger that still remained was their vitiated minds, and anything that could possibly help them figure out how to go about hopefully getting their memories back needed to become top priority, now. Perhaps trying to piece together anything they could figure out about themselves would help them jog a memory or two, or at the very least, maybe they could deduce things logically through the process of elimination to help them at least formulate a best guess about themselves.

No time like the present.

"There's one thing I wanna tell you 'bout the scent trail, though."

"What's that?" Kagome asked, perplexed by his sudden, slightly hesitant tone.

"I...uh..." Clearing his throat nervously, he reminded himself how natural it had felt to feel her hands upon his shoulders and plowed forward. "I actually only smell my feet touching the ground at all once our trail goes off towards the woods, and at a very wide pace, like I was running. I already noticed earlier that we both smell like I carry you around on my back a lot, and this confirms it."

Kagome felt her cheeks warm a bit at his words, thinking back on her recent excitement from having touched his back, although she immediately tried to argue with herself that it was a foolish reaction to have, under the circumstances. They had clearly been under attack, after all, and so if they'd needed to run fast, faster than her human legs could carry her, then riding on his back actually made perfect sense. The thought of climbing up onto his back in that moment, however, had her cheeks warming even more, and not necessarily from embarrassment, although it would be very embarrassing, indeed, to have to explain herself. How to go about rejecting the idea of riding on his back that way without telling him the real reason why...

The last thing she wanted was for him to actually think she was repulsed by the idea of clinging on him like that; that was the exact opposite of how she really felt about it.

"I mean, uh...well, I don't gotta carry you like that right _now_..." he suddenly clarified before she could even think of what to say, unaware that her scent was saying it all for her. "I was just sayin'...so ya know, that's all." he added, trying to ignore the dirty little part of him that longed to feel her body pressed so fully against his own.

"I'm sorry, I'm being silly..." she apologized after a moment, belatedly realizing her flustered state had probably been obvious to his advanced senses. She offered him a sheepish grin, then, her cheeks red from plain embarrassment this time. "I don't know why I'm acting so silly about it. I mean, for all we know, you and I could be..." _Shut up! _she mentally scolded herself, suddenly stopping herself mid-sentence with wide eyes, what she'd been about to say fairly obvious, much to her mortification. Thankfully, her companion only chuckled at her panicked expression.

Inuyasha's cheeks were a little pink as well, he couldn't help that part considering what they were discussing, but he just found the miko's embarrassment too darn cute to not tease her about it, his own embarrassment be damned.

"Believe me, if I could smell _that _I wouldn't keep it a secret." he admitted.

Her face flamed even darker at his words, and he chuckled again, thinking the blush staining her cheeks actually made her look even prettier. How he would love to see her face flushed red for a different reason.

_Gah! What's the matter with me? Oh well, at least I'm not the only one_ ... Inuyasha tried to reason with himself. Still, did he have to be such a horn dog? This was not the time or place!

_I guess comedy is one way to defuse the potential awkwardness_ ... Kagome thought after a moment, unaware of her companion's own inner thoughts on the matter. Chuckling quietly herself, then, she shook her head lightly, exhaling to release the tension.

There was really no reason to be embarrassed, she realized quickly enough. Even though he apparently couldn't smell 'that' – and it was obvious what 'that' was – she could still feel some kind of a connection to this man; something deep from inside her very being told her that he was important to her, and it was clear that he felt the same way. Getting flustered over the notion of riding on his back was just plain silly, especially if it was actually required for rapid transit. Actually, from a squeamish standpoint the idea didn't bother her in the slightest; it had felt so _right _when she'd gripped his shoulders earlier. It was just the way the idea of being pressed so intimately up against him was making her belly flip-flop that made her nervous about the whole thing, but there was nothing wrong with feeling attracted to the man...right? He was attractive! But that didn't mean she had to act like a flustered schoolgirl over it, either, even though she apparently _was _a schoolgirl.

Did most schoolgirls carry magic shards of crystal around their necks that attracted rapacious youkai their hanyou companions then had to vanquish with magical swords?

Honestly, she didn't know the answer to that question, although it was really neither here nor there, she supposed. All that really mattered was here and _now_, and she knew that if she had to ride on his back because they had to jet outta there like a bat out of Hell she wouldn't have a problem with it; she'd tell her hormones to shove it and concentrate on not getting killed by whatever was attacking them. Perhaps it would be wise, though, to avoid hanyou-back-riding in non-life-threatening situations for the time being.

With that last thought in mind, she spoke back up with, "We...uh, we should probably take it slow for now, I mean with the walking!" she blurted as his eyes widened. Clearing her throat, she tried again. "I mean, we should walk slowly, just to make sure you don't lose the trail, and also to make sure we're both more aware of the world around us, ya know? No _distractions_."

It was his turn to blush again, only slightly, at what they were both half-ass acknowledging would be a 'distraction', but he had to admit she made a very good point. His nose would've had to be completely broken to miss the spike in her scent at his initial mention of her riding on his back, and if she was going to keep on smelling like _that _then it would be very distracting, indeed.

"Sure, no problem." he stated casually then, offering her a brief nod and smile before turning and heading towards the trees, the miko immediately falling into step behind him.

"Guess it's a good thing our scents actually come from these woods and not the other direction, otherwise I guess heading that way would be best, despite our lack of supplies." Kagome spoke back up after a moment, trying to avoid a potentially awkward silence developing between them after the subject they'd just been tiptoeing around.

Honestly, when she'd first suggested that they should head into the woods she hadn't even thought about trying to locate their tracks, to try and figure out which directly they had originally come from, but she had to admit that retracing their steps was a very good idea. Right now, it was the only lead they had. If they just wandered off in some other random direction they could end up getting themselves totally lost, but if they backtracked and kept to the trail then they were bound to come across somebody at _some _point. She figured there was no way they could have been all alone out in the wilderness just the two of them for a very long period of time, otherwise why the heck was she wearing her school uniform and carrying around a math book? Civilization had to be around there somewhere, and they would find it. She was just grateful for her demonic companion's canine nose, because she certainly couldn't spot any actual type of tracks in the field and was blindly following his lead, trusting that that his nose knew what it was doing.

"If our scents came from the east I would've probably still tried to find us a source of fresh water in these woods, first, before turning around and backtracking our steps after restocking our supplies." Inuyasha replied. "We're almost outta water and that's gotta come before anything else."

Kagome made a nonverbal sound of agreement at that, her mind wandering a bit as she practiced stretching her mental senses. The sudden spike in the hanyou's youki caught her off guard, as he spun around to look at her with startled eyes.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, alarmed.

"I was just gonna to ask _you _that."

"Oh..." Her cheeks tinted a light pink again, which he still found totally adorable. "Sorry...I didn't mean to spook you with that flare of reiki. I don't sense any threats or anything, I was just...practicing."

His eyes immediately softened at her sheepish apology.

"No worries...practicing your senses like that is actually a very good idea."

He might have thought her blush looked cute, but the smile she was now beaming his way made her look absolutely beautiful. He quickly turned and resumed walking towards the treeline, sniffing at the ground every few minutes to make sure they were still going the right way and that their trail didn't veer off towards the left or right.

Suddenly picking up a stronger whiff of the miko's scent coming from just off to the side a little bit he detoured to investigate and found a thankfully undamaged arrow lying peacefully on the grass.

"Huh...tengu must've been low to the ground and you fired in this direction but missed." he mumbled half to himself, half to the girl, who gratefully accepted the arrow and added it to the other six remaining in her quiver.

For a brief moment they both wondered if any other arrows she'd fired off had not been destroyed, but swiftly decided they couldn't just aimlessly go searching for reusable arrows that might or might not exist, and even if they did they had no way of knowing how far they could have traveled or in which direction they'd been fired, and so they quickly agreed to just resume heading towards the woods, grateful to have come across at least this one extra one.

Walking in peaceful silence for the next few minutes, the miko keeping step behind him with her senses stretched, Inuyasha kept his own senses on alert as well, his ears swiveling this way and that. The last thing they needed would be to encounter any more youkai trouble while they weren't at their best, although he honestly wasn't _too _worried about it after that show his sword had put on back with the tengu. But even so, the miko only had seven arrows, and he wanted her to keep those for when she _really _needed to fire them, which meant their protection rested almost exclusively on his shoulders for the time being.

Not that he minded.

He'd been honest before. Somehow, it just felt...right; it felt natural to him to take on the role of protector where she was concerned. She was so much weaker than he was, after all. Physically speaking, at least. He didn't doubt she could totally kick his ass if they got into a duel of youki versus reiki, but the fact of the matter was she was human and he wasn't, and so she needed things like food and water more desperately than he did, and he could also undoubtedly survive much heavier blows from an attacking enemy than she could. He definitely had to protect her, in almost every way there was, but instead of feeling put out by that realization it still felt perfectly natural to him, as if protecting her day in and day out was something he had already been doing for who knew how long, and it was something he voluntarily _chose _to do, rather than being forced to, which he imagined even now would probably still make him feel bitter about the whole thing, if that were the case. He supposed that blocked memories or no he probably still liked all of the same things he always used to like, and likewise still hated all of the things he always used to hate, and instead of feeling inconvenienced to have to watch out for this miko his base most inu-youkai instincts actually felt contented by the notion of protecting her. Even beyond that, though, he already knew from personal experience that when danger was near he actually felt like he _needed _to protect her; the very idea of anything bad happening to this strangely dressed miko chilled him to the bone.

Entering the treeline, Inuyasha tried to shrug off such negative thoughts, like something bad was actually going to happen to her. Yeah right.

_Feh, over my dead body_ ..._and I mean that literally_.

Taking another sniff of the air he paused, glancing up into the trees with startled eyes.

"What is it?" Kagome asked as she came up beside him, furrowing her brow at the way he was scanning the treetops. "Another tengu?" she asked nervously.

"No...it's _us_..." he murmured, confused.

"Huh?"

Shaking his head, he flashed her a silent look that said 'hold on a sec' and then leapt, a straight shot up into the tree they were standing beside. She blinked in startled amazement to see him perform such an awesome feat, which had obviously been easy for him to accomplish, and tilting her head back to catch a spot of red among the highest branches an unexpected sense of déjà vu came over her at the sight. Then he was falling, only he wasn't falling; he'd jumped. Hoping down out of the tree like it was nothing at all he plummeted a good fifty feet, at least, to land on his feet almost soundlessly and with zero injury.

"That was amazing." she murmured in awe.

He smirked, unable to help puffing his chest a bit in male pride.

"It gets even more amazing." he told her, and the expression on her face shifted to anticipation.

"Our scents are up there." he explained, gauging her reaction as her eyes widened comically before a mildly queasy look started to overcome her.

"Our...scents?" she asked slowly.

His smirk disappeared, instantly replaced with a look of concern.

"You afraid of heights?" he asked her, and not in a teasing or demeaning way.

"I..." she started to answer, only to pause, her brow furrowing. Then she laughed a bit, the sound hesitant and nervous but also mildly reassuring. "You know, I don't know...maybe I'm not. If you say our scents are both up in that tree then I believe you." she told him.

"We don't have to take to the trees now, of course." he wished to assure her right away. "I can still track us from down here 'cause a bit of the scent drifted down, probably with the force of my steps 'cause I had to have been running pretty fast and hard to launch us from tree to tree like that. That makes some of the scent come down; I can still backtrack our trail from the ground."

"I'm glad you know so much about tracking scents. Must just come natural, what with you being half inu-youkai and all."

"I guess..." he shrugged in answer, although her words quickly reminded him of what he'd thought about earlier, when he'd first told her about how he could tell from scent that he'd carried her on his back. This was another piece of information about himself; he shouldn't blow it off.

"Actually, yeah, yes. That _is _good to know." he stated then, smiling at her. "I know about tracking." he repeated, stating it proudly as fact. "Maybe it's just an instinctive thing, or maybe it isn't, but I wanna try to keep track of everything we start to realize we know about ourselves. Any kind of clue, ya know?" he said.

She nodded her understanding and agreement. "Then I've got to tell you something." she added right away, and his ears automatically swiveled forward to hear every word. "While you were up there, when I looked up and could make out your red clothing...that seemed _so familiar _to me, like I've looked up into trees to see you up in the branches before. I can't say how or when or where or why, but I _know _I've seen that type of an image before, patches of red from your robes up in the branches of a tall tree."

"Thank you for telling me that." he replied with a sincere smile as he started walking again. No point in just standing around.

"That's good to know, too." he added after a moment. "I actually felt really comfortable while I was up there, and that plus what you just said tells me that there's no way us running through the trees earlier today to leave our scents up there was the first time I'd ever been in a tree like that. Not sure what it was that made me like being in trees so much, but I definitely liked being up there."

"I don't think it's so mysterious." Kagome spoke up, keeping in time with his steps. "If I knew my body was tough enough to not be in danger from a fall, I'd probably love the view from up there, myself."

As they continued walking, Inuyasha constantly sniffing the air to make sure they were still headed in the right direction, they filled the silence with mild, pleasant conversation, trying to help each other put together whatever puzzle pieces they could think of.

Kagome told him how it'd also looked so familiar to her when he'd wielded the transformed katana, and that while she knew she should probably be afraid of him, afraid of this man who was half youkai and clearly possessed so much awesome, destructive power, instead, being afraid of him seemed like such a _foreign _concept to her that it was almost laughable. Logic _should _dictate that since she had no idea who he was he could potentially be her enemy, and even if she believed him that he didn't remember a thing about his own past, either, that still didn't rule out the possibility that they had both been trying to kill each other right before losing their memories. But yet, somehow, she just _knew _that that wasn't true. She hardly knew anything about herself at all, and really, even assuming she was a junior high student was just a guess because of the clothes she was wearing. She only knew three things about herself with finality, and they were that she was a relatively young human female, that she possessed the spiritual powers and archery skills of a miko, and that she could trust this silver-haired inu-hanyou in red with her life.

Inuyasha was truly touched by her words, though he didn't allow her to think that the sentiment was one-sided in its intensity. He quickly explained to the miko how, likewise to her own thoughts on the matter, his inner most animalistic instincts, the thing about him that he could sense from deep within himself that was the most wild part of him, where 'fight or flight' came from, wasn't threatened by her possessing miko powers, either. Even though logic dictated that a youkai and miko probably shouldn't get along, and he couldn't explain why it was that they obviously _did_, something about her was just so damn familiar and non-threatening that it was clear to him they'd been together like how they were, doing whatever it was they did, for quite some time now. Instead of being wary of her, even in the slightest, he actually felt soothed by her presence; he felt at peace.

As his cheeks tinted pink at that latest statement he also reluctantly confessed that he felt a little embarrassed to admit such things aloud, assuming that maybe he didn't usually like to talk about his feelings, but even so he was willing to put embarrassment aside for the time being because under the circumstances they _needed _to be completely open and honest with one another, and she readily agreed. How were they supposed to figure anything out about each other or themselves if they didn't share with each other every single thing they could possibly think of? How could they know what was important or what wasn't? No...they couldn't blow any feeling or thought off as insignificant, not under these circumstances.

"We definitely have a mystery on our hands, don't we?" Kagome stated, her tone of voice determined to solve the puzzle. "A miko in school clothes clearly good friends, if not more than just friends, with an insanely powerful inu-hanyou, wandering out and about in the middle of nowhere."

Inuyasha didn't flush from embarrassment at her willful acknowledgment that the two of them just might be more than friends. He certainly wouldn't object if it were true.

"Of course, we can't forget about those...what did he call them? Jewel shards?" Inuyasha pointed out while they were on the subject, giving the miko walking beside him a sideways glance. "Wonder what that's all about." he commented, half to her, half to himself.

"I have no idea." she admitted, reaching up with her right hand to finger the glass bottle hanging around her neck. "They're definitely magical, and powerful, and somehow it's like I can sense their aura, though I'm not sure if that's just a miko thing."

"Probably..." he replied, adding, "Although, in a way I can sense them too. I can smell them..." He turned his head and sniffed in her direction. "I gotta admit, they actually smell kind of tempting, like some kind of a treat, but magical for the ki instead of sweet for the tongue, if that makes sense."

"I suppose so." she acknowledged, releasing the bottle. "I can feel a kind of balance of both youki and reiki from within them, a balance I imagine would shift towards youki if a youkai got a hold of them. They're probably as pure as they are right now because of my reiki helping to keep the youki part of them neutralized."

"And you can tell this because you can sense it through their aura?" he asked for clarification.

"Yup."

He stopped walking.

"I want to try something..." he stated, and she raised a curious eyebrow at him. "Trust me." he added, though there was no need. She did trust him, so whatever he wanted to do, she would let him.

"Let me see the shards." he asked her then, and hesitating only for a moment, though only because she wasn't sure what he had in mind, not because she actually thought he wanted to steal them away, she then complied, removing the bottle from around her neck and holding it out to him.

"Don't let go of the strap." he instructed, as he raised his right hand and hesitantly closed his fingers around the bottle.

At first nothing happened, but then they both felt it, a mild surge in power, as a faint but also clearly dark aura started swirling from within the shards themselves. An answering pulse of energy thrummed against Inuyasha's soul and he unconsciously reached for Tessaiga's hilt with his left hand.

"Oh man...these things are just screaming at me to take them and use them...power...so much power...it's like they're talking to me...promising me things..." Inuyasha murmured, his aura pulsing a second time, and he immediately released the bottle, shaking his head as if to remove a mild fog of disorientation. "If I'd have been a bad guy those things probably would've turned black, and me along with 'em." he stated then, watching in satisfaction as Kagome gripped the bottle, the lavender shards within immediately returning to their previous, pale pink color. She then slipped the bottle back around her neck.

"So the shards themselves actually tried to corrupt you, the youki within them consciously reaching out to you?" she asked, uneasy with that information.

"You don't have to worry about me, but we definitely can't let any other youkai come anywhere near those things. That'd just be asking for trouble."

Worrying her lower lip, Kagome nodded her agreement, keeping her right hand cupped around the glass bottle for a few minutes as they resumed their walking. A part of her didn't want to be responsible for something so powerful, but she obviously _was _and so she would take her duty to protect the shards seriously, just as her hanyou companion had vowed to protect _her_. She was nervous that other bad youkai might show up looking to steal the jewel shards from her, as that tengu had wanted to do, but she did feel confident that her companion would be able to face off against just about any monster that came their way. Especially with that sword of his.

Half an hour or so into their walking Kagome noticed it as the hanyou's ears started swiveling. She could only imagine that his sense of hearing was as superior as his sense of smell, though that didn't stop her from automatically trying to listen for whatever it was he had heard. Not that she was successful, of course, but before she could ask him what it was he'd heard he automatically answered her, sniffing the air a minute before turning to meet her eyes with a relieved glint in his own.

"Water."

"Oh, good." she agreed, immediately following as he veered away from the trail he'd been tracking to instead head towards where he could both hear and smell a small mountain stream flowing in the distance. He'd be able to backtrack them back to their original path after they cleaned up and restocked.

The rest of the time walking was spent in companionable silence, Kagome keeping her miko senses stretched while Inuyasha did the same with his own brand of sixth sense. They could both feel the distant hum of multiple forest youkai, little creatures that were clearly getting out of the way as they approached, and for that miko and hanyou were both equally grateful. They really didn't want to get into any more major scuffles if they could avoid it.

Finally coming upon the stream a couple of hours later, a fact that only made Kagome marvel all the more at the strength and range of her companion's heightened senses, she immediately got to work clearing a spot nearby to make a firepit.

"What are you doing?" he asked, curious.

"First things first, we need a fire." was her answer. "Besides needing to boil the drinking water before filling our plastic bottles with it, if we're gonna soak ourselves in that stream to finally be rid of every last drop of magic dust then I don't know about you, but I for one want a fire to dry myself off by afterwards."

He nodded his understanding of her logic, not having really thought about it from a human's point of view. He didn't really understand what boiling the water first did as far as making it better for drinking, but he could at least see her point about wanting to dry off by the fire. Again, she was human; he didn't want to risk her getting sick because he'd insisted on making her walk around in the shadowy forest cold and dripping wet.

"You hungry?" he asked her then. "If we're gonna rest here for an hour or two then I may as well see if I can catch us something to eat."

Her eyes lit up at that, not even having realized she was hungry until he'd said something. Her stomach immediately growled at the notion of food.

_Guess I've been a little preoccupied_ ... she thought, chuckling herself at the sound of the hanyou's light laughter as her stomach answered his question for her.

"Yes, please. That would be wonderful." she spoke up then, smiling shyly.

"Keh."

And with that he was gone, although he made sure to stay within hearing and scenting range, which even though it had gone unsaid she somehow automatically knew he would do, and so she wasn't nervous about suddenly being left all alone in the middle of the forest. She immediately got back to work, finding a few stones that helped her line the firepit before then collecting a few good pieces of firewood as well as a large pile of dry brush to use as kindling. While digging around in her bag earlier she'd noticed a book of waterproof matches, so with everything else going on she was glad that she at least didn't have to worry about trying to start a campfire the old fashioned way. It didn't take her long at all to get the blaze going, and then she collected a pot full of water, having realized easily enough what the small metal pot was for when she'd first noticed it, and by the time her companion came back with a skinned and gutted rabbit the first pot of water was already off of the fire and cooling back down. She'd used the remaining clean wash rag as a pot holder to not burn her hand.

"Thank you for doing the dirty work, although I would've been able to handle it." Kagome stated as she took the cleaned rabbit carcass from him and ran it through, skewering it to cook over the open flame on a spit. "Guess we've done this before, too. Getting the fire going totally came natural."

"So did hunting and cleaning the rabbit." he acknowledged, as he watched her carefully pour the still warm but no longer too hot water into her strange looking, and smelling, clear plastic bottles.

"I wish I could think of stuff in advance that I know or don't know, but at least if we get clued in to what we do know after we encounter it then that's still better than nothing, I suppose." she said while turning the rabbit, and he grunted his agreement.

Once the meat was cooked she put a second pot of water on to boil and then they ate their lunch in relative silence, washing it down with freshly sterilized spring water. Inuyasha was mildly startled, though only for a brief moment, as Kagome handed him the same bottle she'd just taken a drink from, herself, but he quickly realized it was silly to think anything weird of sharing the same water vessel with her and so he gladly took a drink, handing it back to her afterwards. She took another sip, and then once the second pot of water was cool enough she topped that bottle off and filled the others the rest of the way. She had a total of four.

Once that was done, Kagome stood and released a sigh of resignation. She wasn't really looking forward to getting wet, especially since she'd already felt how cold that water was.

"May as well get this over with." she stated, heading back to the stream and walking right in, shoes and all.

She'd figured there was no point in undressing when her clothing needed to be washed, too, and so doing it this way was much less compromising. She wasn't quite sure just how close she and this _male _hanyou actually were, but the idea of undressing in front of him had her cheeks flaming. Whether from embarrassment or excitement she wasn't quite sure...probably a bit of both...but so either way, for the time being, it would be best if they both just rinsed off fully clothed to be done with it, without any 'distractions'.

Inuyasha observed as the miko waded into the deepest part of the stream fully clothed, her thoughts on the matter easy enough for him to figure out at the sight, and a part of him knew he had to agree with her silent assessment of the situation. Honestly, his own stomach had been a mess of butterflies as she'd headed for the stream, unsure if he'd been hoping that she would start to disrobe or hoping she _wouldn't_. While he could tell from scent that they hadn't had sex, either at all or at the very least not very recently, as that was a scent that would _eventually _fade to the point where he couldn't detect it, that still didn't give him any information as far as the 'why', especially knowing how he seemed to feel about the girl and how she seemed to feel about him in return, and so in a way the miko's earlier words were actually true. For all they knew, they _could_ be...he shook his head, not wanting to think about it, though not because he was bothered by the prospect. Quite the opposite, in fact. He was 'bothered' by it, but in a _good _way. She was a beautiful young woman, after all, and she clearly meant something to him if his unyielding trust in her and desire to protect her from harm were any indication. Honestly, a part of him would love nothing more than to lose himself in her, but he knew he couldn't let himself think like that. At least not right now. They had a very important mission to complete, after all, the mission of finding out who they were; there was no time for hanky-panky when another ravenous youkai might show up at any given moment after their jewel shards.

The more he thought about it, the more Inuyasha realized that that was probably the reason why they hadn't done anything right there, since they were out there in the wilds and she had those blasted shards of crystal around her neck acting like a beacon for trouble. It was clear that some kind of a close relationship had developed between them, including a physical attraction they obviously both shared, but they'd probably just both decided that they couldn't get _too _close until after the danger had passed. Or, if they actually already _had _gotten that close in the past, then they just hadn't done anything _recently _because of the danger of their current situation. Silently, he cursed the fact that sleeping with her wouldn't mark her with some kind of a 'forever' mark that could clear this matter up for him once and for all.

Of course, thinking about being with the beautiful miko 'like that' immediately gave Inuyasha another reason why he needed to get into the cold water, and he quickly did so in that moment, as Kagome sat back up from where she'd momentarily been lying fully submerged underwater, rapidly scrubbing at herself. As she staggered to shore, shivering and dripping, he passed her with a quick sniff, noting with relief that he could smell none of that magic powder still on her. As she sat down by the fire to warm herself it was his turn to submerge himself fully under the chilly water, a mental sigh of relief washing over him as he felt his developing erection wither and die. Quickly scrubbing at himself, he made sure to fully rid himself of every last spec of that flowery potion, and then rising to his feet, he sloshed back to shore while shaking the water out of his ears.

Kagome turned to look his way as he paused on the bank, her eyes widening in surprise and amusement as he crouched and shook himself like a dog, water droplets flying every which way, and she couldn't suppress a quiet snicker at the sight as he approached her and the fire after that, only sightly damp.

"What?" he asked with a crooked grin, knowing damn well why she was smirking.

"Just jealous..." she spoke up with a hint of a chuckle remaining in her voice. "I would gladly do that too, if I were able."

"Keh."

Plopping down by the fire, he remained quiet as the miko continued to dry herself, turning herself every few minutes so that a different side of her body was facing the heat of the flame. Having taken her shoes and socks off, they were laid out near the fire for quicker drying. She didn't want to keep them waiting any longer than necessary, but neither did she want to walk with wet shoes and socks and risk getting a blister.

A few minutes later she decided she was dry enough, and that the light dampness still remaining in her hair and clothing would dry fast enough on its own. While she put her shoes and socks back on Inuyasha grabbed her metal pot and filled it with another batch of water from the stream, dumping it on their campfire to make sure it was properly extinguished. She then packed the small pot back inside her bag alongside everything else, and donning said backpack, as well as her quiver of arrows, her bow clutched tightly in her left hand, they were off.

It wasn't hard for Inuyasha to backtrack their fresh scents, leading them for the two hours it took to get them back to the path they had been walking before veering off towards the stream, and then finding their older scent trail among the trees they immediately resumed retracing their steps from early that morning, the scent trail several hours old by then though still strong enough for him to pick up without any difficulty.

"I wonder where we are." Kagome murmured more to herself about an hour or so later.

"A forest?" Inuyasha replied, a teasingly sarcastic edge to his voice.

Kagome snorted.

"Duh." she answered with a roll of her eyes that he didn't see from his place two steps ahead. "But I mean like what district? What prefecture?"

"No idea." he answered with a shrug, adding, "Although I'm sure we've got to come across a village at some point in time."

Kagome crinkled her nose in thought for a moment at his use of the word 'village', although as she continued to think about it she realized that it did sound right, after all, like they were in a somewhat remote area, far away from the big cities, and some part of her knew that. Made sense, she supposed, since come to think of it she didn't actually think there were very many massive fields neighbored by lush forests where the big cities were located. Not that she could really remember the geography of Japan all that well; _were _there actually any massive fields that hadn't been built up or turned into farmland by then? Well, clearlythere were since they had just battled a tengu in one, but as she continued to think about it she realized that they were completely lost; she had absolutely no idea where in the country they were. She didn't even really know for a fact that they were in Japan, although she assumed they were; a logical guess that was most likely correct, though it was still just a guess.

"I don't care if we find a humble fishing village or an elaborate onsen full of American tourists, I just hope whoever we find has a phone I can use."

Inuyasha stopped, turning around slowly to look at the miko with a cocked eyebrow, his expression puzzled.

"What?" she asked, confused by his bewilderment.

"Some of that didn't make no sense."

"Huh?"

"American tourists? Phone?" he repeated, bemused.

"Wait...what's so weird about me wanting to use a phone?" she asked in return, totally perplexed by his claim that it made no sense. "I mean sure, I know I have absolutely no idea who to call, really, but so I'd just dial 110 to get the police and explain myself. I'm sure they could help."

He only continued to blink at her, and then... "But...what's a phone?"

_What's a_ ..._is he for real? _

Although, she quickly realized, some more rural areas might not have modern day conveniences like telephones. And he _was _half youkai, so maybe...maybe he didn't really live in the human world? Come to think of it, didn't youkai and humans kind of live separately from one another? She couldn't remember, so she immediately decided to just answer his question, hoping the description would jog at least a partial memory on his part.

"A telephone is a small device that allows us to communicate with another person who's far away who also has that same type of device, that you hold up to your ear and mouth and you can each hear each other's voices and speak back and forth to each other through them."

At first Inuyasha only continued to look at her like she was crazy, but then slowly a little bit of something that seemed vaguely familiar about what she was describing started to tickle the back of his mind, like he might perhaps know what she was talking about, after all, even though he was absolutely certain he'd never personally used that type of magical object before. Maybe he remembered seeing her use one? Maybe it was a miko thing.

"I think...I think I _might_ know what you mean, but I'm not sure."

"Huh...guess you must live out in the sticks." she commented offhandedly, realizing he probably had absolutely no idea what a computer or the Internet was either, then.

While most people had _heard of _such things even if they lived out in the furthest most simplest regions of the world, that didn't mean everybody actually had such technology and used it for themselves, and right now, with their blocked memories, she knew that the both of them were really only remembering things about the world itself that strongly stood out in their minds as normal and commonplace. So if his simple little village-y home didn't have a telephone in it then it probably made perfect sense that he didn't now know what one was.

Inuyasha merely shrugged at her comment, not taking offense. To him, he really didn't know all that much about the world at all, outside of what he apparently knew of the forest. Hunting and skinning that rabbit had felt so natural to him that it was easy enough to realize that that was probably how he almost always got his own food, even though he did know that there was such a thing as markets where you could go buy stuff somebody else had prepared. As he thought about it, he didn't know _how _he knew that, but it was just once again something he chalked up to common knowledge. But listening to the strange things the miko had said, and coupling that with her strange carrying containers for water, and her weird, almost indecent looking clothing – not that he minded the view – Inuyasha was quickly realizing that this girl must have hailed from a different part of society than himself. That was all fine and good, though; it was another clue.

"Guess you and me come from two totally different worlds, huh? I mean, more than just the youkai and miko differences." he clarified. "There are some things about you that almost seem weird and familiar at the same time, like they are familiar to me now probably 'cause I'm used to 'em from you having 'em, but before then, before you'd first showed me back when we first met or whatever, I'd probably never seen them before in my life. Like those weird clear water bottles you called plastic. I have absolutely no idea what plastic is, but yet I know I've heard that word before and I know I've seen those bottles before. It's really hard to explain."

"I think I understand." Kagome told him, putting his mind to ease that he wasn't the only one who was thoroughly confused by feeling seemingly mixed responses to things. "Things are seeming kind of weird to me, too. You talking about villages, that _does _seem right to me. I can totally picture a simple little village in my mind, with simple little wooden huts. But yet, at the same time, I can totally visualize a bustling city full of concrete skyscrapers. And walking around like this in the forest seems natural, too, and I'm not really all that tired yet and my legs don't hurt, so I must do it a lot, and cooking that rabbit over the fire had seemed so natural that I must have eaten that way plenty of times, yet I also know that in the city people get around in cars or trains or on bikes, and eat in restaurants or buy food in grocery stores to cook in modern-day kitchens..." she trailed off, furrowing her brow as she realized it was almost as if she were remembering things about two completely different types of lifestyles.

"I'm sure I've heard the word 'city' before." Inuyasha told her after she stopped talking, adding, "And big ol' buildings made of stone and steel going higher than the trees, yeah...that's something I'm sure I've seen before, too."

She relaxed quite a bit at those words. Okay, so she was probably just from a city, and he a simple, rural village, but now she was in his neck of the woods, literally, in a clearly remote, out of the way part of Japan. How they had met and why they were together she still had absolutely no idea, although she supposed it probably had something to do with her jewel shards. She had absolutely no idea why she was in possession of them, but it was obvious that her possession of them was keeping them pure, and that it would be very bad for an evil youkai to get a hold of them instead. Having possession of the shards also clearly made her a target for said evil youkai. She had woken up to this world under attack by a powerful tengu for that very reason, and this handsome, silver-haired hanyou had quickly proven to be her savior, her knight in flowing red armor. That made at least some of their partnership make sense to her. He _was _her protector, officially, which explained why it felt so natural and right to him and why he was glad to do it. It wasn't just that they were best friends and he didn't want any harm to come to her for that reason alone, although she was equally sure that they _were_ very good friends now, too, but perhaps their friendship had developed over time as a result of him needing to be her protector because of the jewel shards. The more she thought about it, the more she was sure that that was probably it, and she shared her hypothesis with him in that moment.

Inuyasha readily agreed with Kagome's assessment, smiling as she acknowledged that no matter how their relationship had first started out they were now clearly very good friends; she could feel it in her heart and soul.

"I'm still just bumming that I can't even remember my own stupid name." she grumbled after a moment, which earned a chuckle from her hanyou protector. "I guess, if you end up needing to call me something to get my attention or whatever, you can just go ahead and call me Miko. I know you won't be meaning it in an insulting way."

"How about Wench?" he asked with a teasing edge, laughing again at the way she crinkled her nose.

"That one actually sounds worse to me. For some reason, I know I don't like being called that."

Still chuckling, he lifted his hand in surrender, gesturing that he would relent and not call her Wench if she didn't want him to, despite the fact that he actually felt more partial to that word for some reason.

_Heh_ ..._maybe I used to call her that as a nickname before and she didn't like it, and I did it on purpose to rile her up_... he hypothesized, amused at the notion. If it had made her cheeks flush red, even if it was from anger and not embarrassment, he could easily see himself doing such a thing; she just looked too damn cute with rosy cheeks. But for right now he wouldn't do anything to push her buttons; it would just be plain stupid to deliberately piss her off when they were in such a dire situation and desperately needed to rely on each other. With that last thought in mind, he quickly got his train of thought back to the conversation at hand.

"I didn't like it when that tengu called me Hanyou, either, though I can't really explain why since I _am _a hanyou. I guess it's just the idea of being called by _what _I am instead of _who _I am, like it makes me less important of a person, so I totally get what you mean about the whole name thing. But it's as good a name as any for the time being, I s'ppose. I know you won't mean it in an insulting way, either."

"Well it's just the two of us," Kagome added then, expressing, "so most of the time just a simple 'Hey' will probably be all we need to get each other's attention."

He nodded at that.

They resumed chitchatting about simple things after that as they continued walking, Kagome trying her hardest to think of what all she could remember about the world itself, just generally speaking, even if she couldn't remember anything about her own life. Like the fact that she was almost definitely a junior high school student even though she couldn't remember ever going or really, exactly, what a classroom even looked like from the inside other than a vague impression of it obviously being a room full of desks with a bunch of students and one teacher up at the front of the room. But _everybody _knew _that_, right?

At her mention of it Inuyasha told her that the word 'school' was definitely familiar to him, too, as well as the general concept of what it was after she described it to the best of her ability, although he also didn't have any recollection of ever having gone to school himself. She then told him about the math book in her bag, and stopping for a brief moment to show it to him upon his inquiry he said that yes, it did look sort of familiar to him, as well, although unlike her they both quickly discovered that he actually couldn't read most of what was written inside it. He could understand the Hiragana symbols, but not most of the Kanji ones, and the actual math problems themselves went completely over his head as meaningless gibberish.

Although, truth be told, she didn't really understand most of those equations, either. She did recognize the Arabic-style numerals, which he did not, but as she blanked while reading over the various questions she got the sinking feeling that math was clearly _not _her strongest subject. Which probably explained why she'd brought that particular book along with her on whatever adventure they were presently embarking on, because she'd needed the extra time to study, although right now worrying about her math skills was honestly the furthest thing from her mind. Screw her schooling, they had a magic spell to reverse! Although, hopefully, if she were actually late for class then maybe her friends or family – she assumed she had to be close to _somebody _besides this hanyou – would realize she was missing and maybe a search party would be sent out for them. One could only hope.

With her hanyou companion's lower educational level confirming for her their earlier hypothesis that he was from a simple village while she was not, she made sure to assure him that she didn't think he was stupid as a result. Surprisingly, though, he didn't feel bad about himself for his lack of comprehension when it came to reading the Kanji or other foreign symbols in her book, as if not knowing how to read was actually a commonplace occurrence as far as he was concerned. He was _impressed _with _her_, stating aloud that whatever type of lessons she had had that her sensei must be somebody very important, that _she _must be somebody very important, to have been given such a high education.

Kagome blushed mildly at his praise, even as it felt kind of funny to her, 'cause to her the ability to read seemed like something that should be commonplace instead of the other way around. She did know that it was something you had to learn in school, though, and so that _did _confirm for her that she'd had more education than her dog-eared companion, whatever the reason. She supposed that life in a simple farming or fishing village or whatever probably didn't equate to a good education in the public school system.

Things continued on in the same way for a while longer as they continued to chat lightheartedly about this or that until around an hour or so later when a lightly blushing Kagome stated that she needed to use the restroom, even though to her dismay it was obvious there wasn't an official restroom to be found for miles. Inuyasha wasn't really sure what she meant to describe although he did know that rich people had some fancier way of doing their business, and she was apparently well off from her high education, but she quickly stated that she knew she'd obviously just have to make do before disappearing behind some bushes. Inuyasha then decided that he might as well relieve himself as well as he took off in the other direction, chuckling lightly to himself about how even something so natural made the miko blush cutely. But Kagome quickly found that even relieving herself behind the bushes gave her that same sense of déjà vu again, the feeling of familiarity she kept on getting anytime she did something that she then realized she must have done before on a regular basis, and embarrassment aside that helped the miko to deduce that no matter how populous of a city she had originally come from she had definitely now been here in the countryside with this hanyou for quite some time. Why she was actually still wearing her school uniform if she were days, or possibly even _weeks _away from the city was a bit of a mystery to her, but one she wouldn't waste too much time or energy on trying to solve when she knew she couldn't. Not without gaining more information first. She supposed it was possible that even if she were weeks away from civilization by foot it would still only be a brief few hour trip on the bullet train, so maybe wherever they were, no matter how remote it seemed, it really wasn't _that _far away from the city when utilizing modern transportation. She quickly decided not to really worry about it all that much; she was sure that those kinds of questions would be answered all in due time, as soon as they came across some other people, and like the hanyou had said, there was bound to be a village around there _somewhere_.

oooOooo

As evening crept closer and closer toward sunset Inuyasha finally announced that they should probably stop and make camp for the night, which Kagome immediately agreed to without protest once he assured her that he'd still be able to track their day-old scents the following morning no problem. It was going to be a relatively dry night, definitely bringing no rain with which to wash their scents away, and left on its own Inuyasha felt confident that he could track an unimpaired scent trail up to at least three or four weeks old, if not longer. How or why he knew _that _he couldn't explain, either, although knowing things they couldn't explain knowing was quickly becoming more and more of a common occurrence. With both of them fully aware of the spell they were under they were pretty much each taking whatever knowledge the other person claimed to have at face value, not questioning it because they knew there would be no point in trying to question it; they couldn't defend their knowledge at all beyond saying "I don't know how I know it, I just do."

Making camp came easily to the both of them, as Kagome went about getting another fire going while Inuyasha took to the trees, bringing back another skinned and gutted rabbit a little while later. He apologized mildly for the repetition though she waved off his concern, grateful for the simple fact that he was providing them both with something to eat. She in turn provided the drinking water, from one of her bottles, which was a good thing because there were no streams anywhere nearby where they had chosen to make camp, although really that was only because Inuyasha had known they didn't need to worry about it. They had enough water to last them at least a couple of days before they would need to restock again.

Eating their dinner in peaceful silence sitting just a few feet away from each other on the same side of the fire, Kagome to the left of Inuyasha, her mind wandered briefly towards what they would do for sleeping arrangements. Buried down at the very bottom of her backpack was a thin, folded up sleeping bag, clearly designed for only one occupant. While not too luxurious in the cushioning department it would at least keep the dampness of the ground and insects away, so for that she was grateful and definitely planned on using it, but what about her hanyou friend?

_Just because he's half inu-youkai doesn't mean he should sleep in the dirt like a dog_ ... she thought dejectedly.

He immediately noticed her change in mood, of course; with as acutely tuned into her very being as he was it was like he could smell her emotions.

"What's wrong?" he asked her softly, distractedly glancing her way while reaching forward with his right hand to toss the various bones from his half of the rabbit into the fire a few at a time.

"Oh nothing, I just-" she started to say before noticing that his baggy sleeve was draped partially in the fire. "Look out!"

Noticing at her cry that his low reach was unintentionally dragging his baggy sleeve through the flame he quickly yanked his hand back, but then immediately realized there didn't appear to be any damage to his sleeve whatsoever. Experimentally, he deliberately reached back over the fire, then, allowing the fabric of his suikan sleeve to dangle directly over the open flame a second time. Nothing. Then he lowered his arm a bit more, his sleeve fully submerged in the fire by that point, his bare and exposed hand just an inch above the flame, and while he could definitely feel the heat from the fire on his palm he felt no actual pain, indicating that perhaps it wasn't only his clothing that was fire resistant. It didn't really surprise him though that his flesh was tougher than a human's in that regard; the seemingly fire proof clothing, that was definitely more of a surprise, albeit a pleasant one. And his clothing was apparently _very _fire resistant, if not legitimately fire proof, because he could barely feel any excess heat from the fire on his arm, which was protected by his sleeve. It was as if the robe was absorbing and regulating the heat, allowing him to feel some of the warmth, so he could in fact get warm by a fire were he feeling cold, but it apparently wouldn't allow him to get too overly heated after a certain point, which he knew could theoretically be a life-saving feature.

"Well would you look at that..." he stated with a little bit of humor in his voice, pulling his hand back out to flip it over, examining each side, before reaching for the baggy material of the sleeve with his left hand and giving it a once over. The fabric didn't even feel hot to the touch. "Don't know if this robe has been enchanted or what, but it sure as hell ain't no normal suikan."

Just one more thing that indicated he was some kind of a warrior, meant to protect the miko against their enemies. If somebody spat out a fireball at them he could safely take the hit for the miko and he would survive it unscathed. In fact, in a _very _dangerous situation he could probably even allow _her _to wear the suikan, which would be much larger on her petite form and so she could even drape it over her head if need be, if they suddenly found themselves facing off against something that could breathe fire. It would be better for him to face off against such a thing without the added protection of the suikan if it meant that she could have that protection instead, since her weak human flesh would burn to a crisp whereas his hide was apparently tough enough to handle a little abuse on its own without any issue. But even if he did get hurt, so long as she was okay, then that was all that mattered.

Unaware of the direction his thoughts had wandered, Kagome scooted closer at his thoughtful expression, reaching for his left sleeve with her right hand, which he quietly let her examine, and fingering the material she furrowed her brow in contemplation. She hadn't really thought about it until now but come to think of it it _did _seem to be different than any of your standard issue kimono fabric options.

"Looks like wool." she stated after a moment, even as she crinkled her brow in confusion, because kimono just weren't made out of wool. But yet that was what it looked like, like a tightly woven, lightweight sweater.

"Wool?" he questioned, unfamiliar with the word.

"You know, the cotton-like fur of a sheep?" she answered simply, her somewhat questioning tone phrased as if she hoped to jog a memory, or at least a sense of recognition. "It's spun and made into a thick thread that can then be woven? It's a Western thing."

Drawing a total blank he just shook his head, answering, "Don't know nothin' 'bout clothes makin'. That's women's work. But I do know that I got no idea what a sheep or wool is. My clothes _do_ smell like fur, though, but I got no idea what kind of animal, even though the scent is familiar to me. I just can't place the creature...even though I get the feeling that it's something I did _used _to know. I guess you're right in part at least. It's probably not this wool stuff, otherwise I'm sure part of me would recognize that word like I've recognized a few other foreign sounding words you've said, but it's definitely _something's _fur, I guess made in the same way you described."

Kagome crinkled her nose at his jibe about clothes making being women's work but quickly decided not to take offense. After all, if he was from a rural village then she was sure a lot of the old cultural ideals still held true; tradition and all that. If they actually still made their own clothing instead of buying it in a store then she was sure it almost definitely was exclusively the women who did it, while the men fished or whatever.

Unbeknownst to her, a whimsical smile slowly began creeping its way up her lips. Even though she couldn't actually remember anything about her own life she still felt a sense, an impression, if you will, that living in a big city was crazy and hectic, and the thought of living simplistically in a peaceful village instead _definitely _appealed to her. Perhaps another reason why she was where she was? She could even believe that maybe she'd left the city first, met this hanyou man first, and then somehow or another they'd gotten tangled up with those stupid jewel shards together after the fact. On the other hand, maybe she had been called in to help his village because they'd needed somebody who could keep the shards pure. There were so many different possible ways it could have gone, although she supposed that if she'd just decided to move there then that still didn't explain her school uniform. And the spare clothing she had packed in her bag? Just pajamas and another school uniform. Why not a pair of jeans? A t-shirt? She sighed. She was happy for her friend, that he was figuring more things out about himself, but the longer she thought about her own dilemma the more she realized she kept hitting road blocks; she definitely had more questions than answers.

Hearing her melancholy sigh and seeing that pretty smile of hers drop from her face, Inuyasha's eyes immediately looked concerned, as he remembered that something had already been bothering the miko prior to them both getting distracted with the sleeve-in-the-fire incident.

"Hey...are you okay? Something was bothering you before, wasn't it?" he asked her quietly, his tone of voice letting her know that whatever was wrong she could talk to him about it.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine, really." she stated reassuringly, releasing a tired sigh as she remembered what it was she had been thinking about before. "I was just thinking...I have a bedroll in my bag, but...where are you going to sleep?"

He blinked at that, not having even really thought about it. He didn't even know that she had a bedroll for herself and had assumed that they would both be sleeping on the ground.

"Hey if you've got a bedroll use it, don't worry 'bout me." he assured her right away. "I'm okay in the dirt without anything."

"Does it feel familiar to you?" she asked then, "Like you've slept in the dirt before?"

Surprised by the question, although he realized it was a perfectly reasonable inquiry, he thought about it for a moment and then realized no, actually, it didn't seem familiar to him, sleeping in the dirt. But that didn't really matter because even if he usually had a bedroll of his own he clearly didn't have it with him now and so he would just have to make do. Not that the idea of sleeping on a bedroll actually felt familiar to him, either, come to think of it...

Tilting his head, he glanced up into a nearby tree.

"Actually...maybe...maybe I sleep up there..." he pointed with a nodding gesture of his head, glancing to a tree on their left, on the other side of the miko.

That surprised Kagome, although as she glanced over her shoulder at the tree in question she immediately realized that it would certainly be better than him being down on the ground in the dirt. And besides that... "Being up there probably gives you a better view of would-be threats in the area, too." she more or less just blurted out, as if the notion of him being on watch up in a tree suddenly seemed so right it was ridiculous they hadn't thought of it sooner.

"Heh, one more piece of the puzzle locked in place." he stated with a crooked grin.

"So let's see...I'm from a city, and am apparently a junior high school student, you're from some rural out of the way area, I've got miko powers and am protecting these jewel shards, either by design or happenstance, and you in turn protect me..." Kagome started rambling, just running down through a list of everything they'd figured out so far.

Nodding, Inuyasha chimed in with, "We've clearly been doing it for a while now, since camping out together like this feels so natural and you're so good at making a campfire and know how to roast small game animals on a spit, something you'd said wouldn't be done in the city..."

"It almost seems like something out of a fairytale, you and me with our magical powers, fighting evil beings." Kagome stated then, her tone of voice mesmerized. "It almost doesn't seem real; a part of me wants to laugh and say 'how ridiculous' but yet I've already seen it with my own two eyes and back when we were fighting that tengu it didn't seem weird or alien at all, like you and me have fought together against other evil youkai before. But how can that be? Because a part of me wants to scoff and say that youkai are just stories. But how can a part of me want to say that there's no such thing as youkai when I'm having a conversation with a hanyou?"

Inuyasha just shrugged, and then offered the possibility, "Maybe you didn't used to know we were real. Maybe wherever you grew up...since it was clearly somewhere different from here, 'cause your clothes and supplies are so weird...maybe it was some special human-only place locked away from the youkai. It wouldn't be hard to do, with miko and houshi wards or barriers, and since you've got miko powers maybe you're from some place with a bunch of reiki users and so since no youkai ever bother you guys it might just be something you don't think about anymore."

It was Kagome's turn to shrug, unable to tell if his hypothesis seemed right or wrong, although she supposed it was one possible explanation. One of many.

"I guess I'm just jealous. We know so much more about you than we do me." she stated in a joking tone, hoping to lighten the mood.

Inuyasha snorted.

"How the hell do you figure that?" he asked, his tone of voice amused as well. "Okay sure, I know I'm an inu-hanyou, but you know you're a miko, so that's one for one. I just found out my clothing is apparently enchanted with some kind of youkai magic, just like my sword is, but you already IDed your outfit at first sight to know what it means and where it came from, and you've also got your arrows, so we're still even."

Thinking about it a moment, Kagome slowly realized that he was right. She had figured out that she was from a city, and he most likely a rural village, but that was still a conclusion made about the both of them, together. Come to think of it, they really didn't know any more about him than they did about her, after all; they didn't know anything about either of their personal backgrounds, their family information, where they were born or where, exactly, they were from. They also didn't know how they'd met, and how, exactly, her jewel shards came into play, but one thing was for certain in the miko's mind, and that was that he meant so much more to her than just merely her protector, and she told him as much in that moment.

Scooting himself closer to her at her words, Inuyasha wrapped his left arm around her shoulders, pulling her in to lean against his body, which she gladly did without hesitation, resting her head on his shoulder. A thrill traveled through the both of them at the intimate contact, but it was a good thrill; it felt so _right_ to hold her like that, and a little familiar, too, like he had in fact done it before.

"This is nice..." Kagome murmured drowsily.

"Yeah..." he agreed, taking in her beautiful, soothing scent. "We might have more questions than answers, but right now I...I feel like I've got all the answers I need right here. The rest of the pieces will fall into place in time. We've got to eventually find a way to reverse the spell, after all, I'm sure it ain't permanent, but right now I honestly ain't all that worried about it."

Kagome smiled against him, catching him in a lie although she knew it was meant for her benefit.

"We don't really know that it's not permanent, though, but I appreciate you acting so sure about us finding a way to undo it. Hopefully we will."

"Keh..." he grumbled softly. "If we don't never get our memories back then we'll figure something out, and we'll do it together. No matter what, we're in this together. But I do bet that once we can get back to wherever we were and find someone who knows us that they'll be able to help us out in some way or another. If it really ain't reversible then at least we should finally be able to learn who we are, and we'll just go from there."

"I can't believe you're not more freaked out about being in the dark about your entire life like that, not even knowing who you are at all. It should be frightening." she murmured softly.

"Are you scared?" he countered.

"A little...well...actually, no, not really." she admitted, snuggling against him a little closer, rubbing her cheek on his shoulder. "I'm sure I _would _be, but I guess maybe it's just because you're with me and we're facing this together. I'm not afraid; no matter what we'll be okay, I do agree with that." Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly, relishing in her companion's wild, woodsy scent. She could stay like that forever. "Worst case scenario we'll just settle down in some peaceful village somewhere where you can hunt our meals and I can take up 'women's work'." she teased. "That doesn't sound too bad to me at all."

"Me neither." he murmured gently in reply, before chuckling as a large yawn interrupted whatever it was she was about to say next. "Think it's time you get out that bedroll of yours and get some sleep. I'll keep watch, ain't nothin' gonna sneak up on us during the night."

"You need your sleep, too." she argued, separating herself from him even though a part of her hated to give up his comfortable warmth.

He just waved off her concern as she reached for her backpack and got out her pajamas and sleeping bag. While a part of him was kind of tired, he somehow got the distinct impression that he didn't usually sleep all that deeply at night, at least not while they were out in the woods. How could he, when he needed to protect her from wild predators? He would never forgive himself if something crept up on them and caught them unaware during the night because he had allowed himself to fall into a deep sleep while they were out there in the middle of the forest all alone just the two of them.

"Don't worry about me." he told her then. "I can take quick little naps while still keeping my senses on alert enough that I'll know it if something comes by and snap fully awake in an instant. Another one of those things I can't explain knowing." he finished with a smirk.

She chuckled lightly at that, deciding of course to take his word for it. Even though a part of her wanted him to get a rich, full night's sleep as well, she could certainly concede that it was dangerous out there just the two of them, and she definitely felt more able to relax and give herself up to her own slumber knowing that he was still on alert and keeping a lookout. Even though the ground was lumpy and the sleeping bag wouldn't offer her much in the way of comfort she somehow still knew that with her hanyou protector watching over her she would have the most peaceful night's sleep she could possibly have, free of worries. She wasn't even worried about getting her memories back any longer. I mean of _course _that was their goal and they would work towards it vigorously, but she would no longer allow her mind to be plagued by juggling all of the various unknowns and what-ifs around and around in her head when she knew damn well that there was no real way for her to answer any of those questions anyway until after this cursed spell was reversed. It was still important for the two of them to pay attention to whatever little things they happened to discover about themselves or about the world that seemed familiar to them, but it wasn't really like they were on a mission to figure out who they were based solely on whatever clues they could figure out. They just needed to find other people, people who could hopefully point them in the right direction as far as somebody who knew how to remove youkai curses. She would worry about the possibility that the spell was permanent only if and when some magical sage told them so to their faces, but in such a situation then at least she still knew that she wouldn't be going through it alone. With her hanyou guardian by her side the two of them could make it through anything, and would living in a simple little village while keeping her jewel shards away from evil youkai really be such a bad way to live her life?

Smiling again at that last thought, Kagome ducked behind a different tree than the one Inuyasha had leapt up into to change into her pajamas and then after making sure the fire was built up enough to last for quite a while she settled down into her sleeping bag. Earlier that day when she'd first woken up to being attacked, no time to process what was going on and freaking out over the fact that she couldn't remember anything about herself, Kagome had not even contemplated the possibility of actually making peace with what had happened to her, but the way she looked at it now, there was just no point in stressing herself out about it, freaking out and worrying over what she couldn't presently do anything about. Panicking wouldn't bring her memories back; they just needed to stay calm and think rationally and figure out little bits and pieces about the world as they went along until they could hopefully come up with a legitimate plan of attack to get their stolen identities back, and if they couldn't, well...then she was sure she could eventually make peace with that, too. Everything happened for a reason, right?

With that last thought in mind Kagome finally drifted off to sleep, Inuyasha dutifully keeping watch from up above, his sheathed sword in hand for quicker access should he need it. He smiled softly to himself as her breathing and heart rate evened out; he too had come to the conclusion that there was no point in worrying or wondering about this or that. At first he'd been wound tight, ready to explode. He'd wanted to _kill _something, but then of course he had, that stupid fucking tengu who had been responsible for their situation. So good, he'd gotten his revenge then. Now that the need to destroy something in his frustration had been quenched he was more able to step back and look at the circumstances of their situation. If he had suddenly just up and woken up to a world he knew almost nothing about, realizing he knew absolutely nothing about his life, he probably would have been very freaked out, indeed. Having an obvious enemy had given him the initial focus he'd needed to stay grounded and not totally lose it, needing to put his worries aside to concentrate on fighting that tengu, and he also knew that it had to be helping him tremendously that this miko was in the same situation he was, that he wasn't facing all of this alone. For some reason the notion of facing such troubles _alone_ really bothered him. Maybe he'd used to be all alone in the world before meeting this miko? He had no idea, but he definitely felt calm and at peace in her presence, like no matter what he would be okay just because she was with him, and he absolutely knew that she was the sole reason why he wasn't freaking out about what had happened. He most definitely wanted to get his memories back, absolutely, his and the miko's, but in the meantime it just was what it was. He enjoyed realizing when certain things seemed familiar and was definitely curious about their histories, but it wasn't worth stressing over or getting depressed when they couldn't decide if something seemed familiar or not, which of course probably meant that it wasn't. In a way he actually found it kind of exciting, every time they did discover something about themselves. Like take being up in the tree...he could definitely tell now that that was how he slept probably almost every single night, but he hadn't consciously thought of it beforehand in advance, it was just something they'd randomly stumbled upon right in the moment, and that was how it seemed to keep on working for them. He was looking forward to any new such discoveries they might continue to make while on their journey, but he wouldn't be disappointed if they didn't come. Only time would tell.

With that last thought in mind he allowed himself to slip into a very light doze, resting his body and mind to the best of his ability while still staying on alert. To an outside observer it would look like he had truly fallen asleep, except for the fact that his ears continued to twitch to any little random noise. Nothing would be sneaking up on them this night.


	4. Preclusive Pasts, Embraced Desires

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Chapter 4 – Preclusive Pasts, Embraced Desires

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Kagome awoke the following morning at dawn to the soothing melody of birdsong, and blinking her eyes open it took her a moment to remember where she was and get her bearings. She'd had a rather peaceful dream, which had seemed so _natural _to her but was now slipping quickly between her fingers. Nameless faces of people she was sure she was supposed to know...

Yawning softly, she stretched and sat up, glancing up into the tree her hanyou companion had used as a perch all night long. He appeared to be asleep, propped sitting up in the nook of a sturdy branch, back against the trunk, his sheathed sword out of his obi and leaning against his shoulder, held in place by his crossed arms. Trying not to disturb him she very slowly and quietly started shimmying herself out of her sleeping bag, but then his fully alert voice unexpectedly ringing out with "Let me know when you want breakfast." had her realizing with a start that he hadn't dropped his guard, after all.

Smiling up at him, he grinned in return as he cracked an eye open to gaze down at her and greet her more officially with "Morning."

"Good morning to you, too, mister 'let's startle the miko half to death'." she kidded, earning a chuckle from the half youkai man who jumped down out of the tree, working some kinks out of his neck and back.

"Hungry?" he asked again, his voice and eyes both playfully apologetic for having spooked her.

"Sure." she replied with a nod, grabbing her school clothes to change out of her pajamas while he went hunting before then bringing their fire back to life, which was a fairly easy task as she'd stacked it properly the night before and the center was still hot.

A little while later they were enjoying another peaceful meal of fire-roasted rabbit, during which time Kagome shared with Inuyasha the few snippets she could still remember from her dream. He had not dreamt anything the night before, of course, never once having permitted himself to slip into that deep of a slumber, and so he was actually curious to hear about what types of visions had come to the miko while she'd slept. She explained that the two of them had been sitting around a campfire similar to how they were in that moment, but with two other humans and two little youkai, one of which was more just an animal, a cat, while the other was more childlike. She couldn't remember what he was supposed to be now, although she did know that in the dream she had known what he was, as well as _who_ he was, as well as who the two other humans had been, and even more importantly she'd also known who she and the hanyou were. It was all gone now, of course, but it did give her hope that her memories really were all still there, somewhere, just locked away from her conscious mind. It was also good to know that they apparently had some other companions who usually traveled with them; it gave her hope that there were people out there who could possibly help them, provided they could find these other people. It was really fuzzy now, although one detail she could still remember with relative clarity was the brief visual of the whole group of them all eating instant noodles, something that still sounded very familiar to her now that she was awake; she was positive it had been an actual memory.

"Noodles?" Inuyasha spoke up at her statement, his ears twitching at that one word in particular.

Nodding, Kagome described what she could remember, that they were instant cups of ramen, a word Inuyasha immediately said sounded _very _familiar. Suddenly thinking of something that might help, she fetched out one of the pairs of chopsticks from her backpack that she'd discovered before were in there and handed them to the hanyou, in case holding them might help to jog a memory, which it actually did to a degree. As Inuyasha held the chopsticks he put down his piece of rabbit and tried to visualize, since he knew what noodles were, the thought of sitting by a campfire like how he was now but while eating noodles out of a deep white cup, like how she had described. While he couldn't actually remember doing so, the concept suddenly was so _familiar _to him that he readily agreed with the miko that her dream just had to be an actual memory, or if not and it was truly just a random dream then it had at the very least been based off of things that had actually happened before.

"Guess it makes sense that we can't eat rabbit _every _meal." he commented lightly, his tone teasing as he handed Kagome back her chopsticks before picking his piece of rabbit back up and continuing to eat with his hands.

"It also makes sense that if I occasionally brought food supplies from the city that they wouldn't last forever, though, so that definitely still explains why we're both so used to the idea of preparing and eating small game animals like this, too." she chimed in, putting the chopsticks away. "The ramen is probably more of an emergency ration, in case there's no good hunting one night or something." she commented, eating her own rabbit hindquarter with her hands the way you would a chicken drumstick.

Inuyasha nodded at that, continuing to eat before tossing the bones into the fire. Washing it down with more of Kagome's water he was then ready to get back on the road. Even though they weren't in any immediate danger of him losing the scent trail he wanted to get going as quickly as possible because he had absolutely no idea how much more walking they had ahead of them, and he wanted to cover as much ground as possible before sunset.

Kagome readily agreed to that, and was ready to go not long after he was, sparing their drinking water by using handfuls of dirt to make sure their fire was properly smothered. Adjusting both her backpack and quiver over her shoulders, something that seemed like it should be awkward but she'd apparently gotten used to it as it now came naturally to her how to go about the juggling act, she then grabbed her bow with her left hand and together they headed back out, Inuyasha's nose to the air to again make sure the trail didn't suddenly veer off in one direction or the other though so far it seemed to be keeping to a pretty straight path.

He imagined that wherever it was they had been heading he had just been making a bee-line in that direction, cutting across the top of the forest as the bird flies rather than taking a longer route by foot...as they were doing now. In fact a few times they had to walk around a few shorter trees or bushes because the path they were walking would take them straight through certain such obstacles on the ground, but for the most part they were doing a pretty good job of sticking to the invisible trail.

With nothing new to talk about, really, they spent the beginning part of the morning walk in relative silence, although it was a peaceful silence not awkward to either of them in any way. They'd both made peace with their situation the night before and so today they really just had one thing on their minds and one thing only: retrace their steps until they found other people. They had decided to tackle the mission of getting their memories back in stages, taking baby steps, and step one was to find other people. They would worry about where to go from there once they found said people and learned whether or not those people actually knew who they were, or at the very least knew of a magic worker they could direct them to who might be able to reverse the spell. There was decidedly no point in worrying prematurely about what was to come beyond that point, especially since they still needed to stay focused on their immediate surroundings so as not to allow themselves to be caught off guard by a random forest youkai drawn to their jewel shards. Getting lost in a tangle of thoughts revolving around an endless 'what-if' could actually prove fatal, if they distracted themselves too deeply.

That fact made itself known when, about an hour or so in on their walk, they were suddenly both accosted by a very powerful demonic aura that seemed to come from all around them. Fortunately, because they _had _both been keeping their senses on alert and had been paying attention to their surroundings, as soon as they felt the youki signature appear out of nowhere they both had their weapons drawn and at the ready, adopting a battle stance of standing back to back to each other without even the need to discuss such tactical maneuvers beforehand. Inuyasha had no difficulty getting Tessaiga to transform for him since it could easily read his genuine desire to protect Kagome, even though the hanyou had no idea that that feeling was what made the sword work and that if he didn't give a damn about the miko and only wanted to kill things Tessaiga would stubbornly stay in its dormant state. He was genuinely worried for her in that moment, hoping that whatever it was would be something that he could handle on his own. He didn't want her to have to fight, he wanted to protect her, and besides that he also didn't want her using any of her arrows unless they _really _needed her too, because they only had so many left and once they were gone that was it. He knew she knew that, too; they'd already discussed earlier how saving her arrows needed to always be top priority from there on out because no matter how strong of a youkai they might face off against there could always theoretically be an even stronger one just around the corner, and if they ever ended up facing off against something that was so powerful it would take the _both _of them to take it out then he needed to make sure she was still armed at that time, otherwise they would both be screwed. Their plan of attack was that he would always go it alone unless it became apparent that he _couldn't _handle it on his own, and then – and only then – would she actually join in the fight. Otherwise she was always to keep an arrow at the ready, but only actually use it in self-defense if he screwed up a maneuver somehow and wouldn't be able to make it to her in time, thus forcing her to defend herself.

He absolutely hated the idea of her possibly being forced to use an arrow just because he'd screwed up, though he wouldn't call it _wasting _an arrow because obviously he would much rather she did so and protect herself than not and get hurt, if he had been physically unable to protect her, but it was his intention to _not _ever let such a scenario come to pass in the first place. He would protect her, no matter what.

Fortunately, it turned out to be a relatively weak youkai after them in that moment, nowhere near as powerful as the tengu they'd faced the day before. Some sort of a lower badger-youkai; one of the mujina's deceptive abilities was apparently to intensify the feel of its demonic aura, but it was only an illusion. An illusion which quickly shattered as the beast showed itself in exaggerated monster form, hoping to frighten the hanyou and miko, only for Kagome to pull back on her bowstring with narrowed eyes, unwavering in her determination. She would not actually fire unless she had no choice, agreeing with the hanyou's desire for her to save her arrows if at all possible, but that didn't stop her from showing off, letting her miko powers cause the arrowhead to flare to life with a brilliant, purifying pink light. She wanted to make sure the beast _knew _they meant business. At the sight of her powerful reiki, the mujina's eyes bugged comically huge before it lost its oni-like appearance with a poof of smoke and as a normal-looking badger it turned tail and ran away into the woods as fast as it could.

Releasing the tension in her bow and putting the unused arrow back away, Kagome almost felt like laughing at the ridiculous sight, a grin crawling up her lips as Inuyasha shot her a confident smirk, waggling his eyebrows. It was clear from his expression that he thought the two of them were just so _bad ass _that the mujina had thankfully known what was best for it. She couldn't help it, she laughed a little.

"Well that was certainly...unexpected." she stated with a bit of a chuckle still in her voice.

"I'm glad it turned out to just be a small fry, though." Inuyasha stated then, his voice as well as the look in his eyes gaining a bit more seriousness.

Kagome readily agreed.

"Well, come on, bet we've still got a long ass way to go yet. There's still no trace of any humans anywhere near here; if we were near a village there'd be the leftover scent of hunters or somethin'." Inuyasha stated then, missing the look of serious contemplation that flashed through Kagome's eyes when he turned his back to her, sniffing the air one last time just to make sure that badger-youkai wasn't trying to sneak back up on them; it wasn't.

Biting her lower lip in mild nervousness, Kagome took a moment to seriously mull over her companion's words. They probably _did _still have a very long way to go, especially since they both knew that they'd actually been running the first time around. Did it really make sense to backtrack their trail so much more slowly, then?

_Should I dare say anything...? _ she silently questioned herself, before quickly shaking her head to rid it of such nonsense. She was being silly again.

Logic dictated that they should really start traveling much faster, no matter how she'd initially felt about the idea of riding on his back when he'd first brought it up yesterday. They had hardly made any progress at all the day before, especially with that detour to the stream, and she knew it was because they were only going as fast as she could walk; she hated the idea of slowing them down just because she was being a silly schoolgirl ruled by her hormones.

Completely missing the decision making going on behind him because he was concentrating on sniffing out possible threats, Inuyasha then turned and gave Kagome a confident nod that articulated the area was all clear; no other threatening youkai were anywhere in the nearby vicinity. Turning back to start continuing on in the direction they had been going, then, Inuyasha was brought up short when an unexpected but also gentle hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks.

"Wait..." Kagome spoke up quietly, chewing her bottom lip in mild nervousness, which had Inuyasha furrowing his brow as he gazed her way with concern in his eyes, the scent of her trepidation suddenly hitting him full force.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, having thought at first that maybe she just needed to relieve herself or something before they took back off although now judging by her scent and the look on her face that wasn't it at all. "Whatever it is just spit it out; you can tell me anything." he assured her, his tone of voice not rude in the slightest with the 'spit it out' remark, as if he were feeling impatient with her. Instead, he seemed genuinely concerned, which only made Kagome that much more flustered, feeling guilty for worrying him on top of everything else.

"I'm fine, really...it's just...I...I was just thinking...just like you said, we've probably still got a really long ways to go, so..." she started hesitantly, her cheeks tinting a light pink. "Maybe...maybe we _should_ give traveling faster a try?"

His eyes widened as he realized what she meant before a light blush stained his cheeks as well, and then scoffing at himself, embarrassed by his embarrassment, he said "Feh! That ain't nothin' to feel all weird about."

Somehow, Kagome could just tell that he was actually scolding the both of them, and that knowledge immediately made her feel a bit better, to know that she wasn't the only one so flustered by the notion of what she was proposing.

"I agree, so...it really makes more sense. I mean, we don't know how long we were traveling like _that _before, either, and if you were running for hours and hours with me on your back, well...it'd take us _days _to travel that same distance by foot like this." Kagome spoke back up, sounding more confident with her decision by the minute as the logistics of the situation made themselves known. "And if we were actually running at your top speed for days, well, then it'd probably take us _weeks _to cover that much ground." she added.

"That's true...we probably really _should_ pick up the pace, then." he agreed at her logic, crouching right away for her to climb up onto his back. "Well, come on then, let's do this thing."

Blushing again, especially because she was wearing such a short skirt, she nevertheless did as instructed and climbed up onto his back. Instantly upon doing so she realized how natural it felt, how comfortable she was, feeling nowhere near as self-conscious as she had feared she would. The expression 'try it, you'll like it' came to mind. She certainly didn't need any Alka-Seltzer to settle her stomach as he immediately took off running, though, racing along the ground for a bit before building up momentum and then launching them both up into the trees to start leaping across the treetops from branch to branch, soaring high in the sky like a tengu himself between jumps. Although she had been nervous at first the miko quickly discovered that she felt no vertigo or motion sickness. In fact it was almost _fun_, like a roller coaster. The only unsettling thing about her tummy was the nest of butterflies that had erupted within it the very moment she'd climbed onto the hanyou's back, but despite the naughty part of her mind that refused to let her forget about how intimately she was pressed up against him, or how sinfully delightful his hands felt cupping the backs of her thighs like that, she couldn't ignore how secure she also felt, how absolutely safe and protected. She was in no danger of falling.

As for Inuyasha, the very moment she'd climbed up onto his back he knew he was a goner, realizing that he'd have to hold her legs the way he was doing to keep her from losing her balance while she also squeezed them around his waist and tightly clung to his shoulders just as he'd known she must have done in the past. Heaven help him, he had an attractive woman pressing herself fully against his back, her breasts very noticeable to him where they were squeezed in between their bodies. He was also fully aware of the fact that her short skirt offered nothing in the way of providing an extra layer of fabric between them down _there_, the only thing preventing her from being bare against his suikan being the single, thin layer of cotton that made up her odd fundoshi. He'd caught a few unintentional glimpses since yesterday. He was just thankful that with the way he was running he couldn't presently smell her, knowing that that would be his breaking point. He could only imagine, based on how she'd smelled the day before when only _thinking _about riding on his back, that that scent was much stronger now than it'd been yesterday. He assumed he'd find out whenever they eventually slowed down, which he actually didn't plan on doing for quite some time if he could help it, though not _just _to avoid facing the inevitable in that regard. Ignoring the awkwardness of the situation, a part of him actually found running with her like that quite pleasurable, and not just in a perverted way.

Truly thinking about it, Inuyasha definitely couldn't say he felt burdened by her extra weight, unless you counted the growing heaviness in his loins, but despite that specific type of discomfort he actually found it very natural and otherwise fully comfortable to carry her on his back like he was doing. He felt...happy, almost, as if carrying her like that was the ultimate reward, like a treat she had gifted him with, or maybe more accurately it was the ultimate guarantee that she was there with him, that she was safe. He almost felt like she was...his. A part of him was almost like a happy little boy going lookie what I got, despite the very _adult _way he also felt about her. But at the same time, even though he felt like she belonged with him, to him, he also felt like he was hers, too. He definitely didn't want to possess her like a thing; he didn't know how to describe it, but he couldn't ignore the part of his canine instinct that was talking to him in that moment as they leapt effortlessly together from tree to tree, the miko naturally shifting her weight during his jumps just the right way he needed her to to ensure he didn't lose his balance midair. It was just further proof that they belonged together. They belonged with each other, and maybe, _to_ each other. Thanks to his canine instincts, more than really wanting to possess her he actually wanted to be possessed _by _her. She was his to protect, and by that same token she could also call him her protector...but was that really all that it was? Was that really all that he wanted?

That certainly wasn't all that his _body _wanted.

It was hard to describe, since being a hybrid meant there were different warring parts of his psyche that looked at the world in completely different ways; he had to find some kind of a happy balance between his two halves to organize the chaos. Part of him honestly felt kind of like a dog, like an inugami, and she was his human; he would be loyal to her forever. But at the same time he was also half human himself, and _that_ part of him, the man in him, wanted her for his woman, but only if she wanted him as her man in return. And although his heart felt content to just hold her like how he was doing forever and ever, just knowing she was safe and happy in his presence being enough to nourish his soul, he still couldn't deny the very _manly _way in which he appreciated her female form. It was all he could do to distract himself from such thoughts before it got to the point where he wouldn't be able to run as smoothly.

Fortunately, though – if you wanted to label what happened twenty minutes into their run as fortunate – another random forest youkai chose that moment to attack them. With the hanyou and miko both as 'distracted' as Kagome had predicted the day before that they would become in such a position they almost didn't notice the cluster of incoming porcupine quills in time to dodge them. Almost. The harinezumi-youkai had easily sensed them coming, Kagome's jewel shards far too tempting to pass up, and he had timed his attack just right for when they would be passing by overhead. Hanyou and miko both felt each other tense up at the same moment they themselves noticed the stronger burst of youki coming from somewhere down below and ahead of them, and then before Kagome could even scream a warming to look out it was Inuyasha instead who called out "Shit!" as he significantly tightened his grip on Kagome's legs before unexpectedly plunging them both down through the tree he'd just landed on rather than kicking off again, as their enemy had believed he would. Gasping in surprise at the sudden change in direction, Kagome buried her face against Inuyasha's back as the ground rushed up on them, more for protection against scratches than in fright of the situation. She knew he wouldn't let her get significantly injured; a few mild scratches and scrapes on her legs from random branches as they dropped sure as hell beat getting skewered with a barrage of giant porcupine quills, which sailed past overhead as they plummeted, having been launched from a branch midway up the next tree over. If they had made that next jump they would have both been shish-kabobed. Well...not really, since Inuyasha's fire-rat suikan would have protected them both, but he didn't know that, yet.

Inuyasha saw the porcupine-youkai look at them with wide, startled eyes as they dropped to the ground right in front of it. He kicked away from the tree beside them as soon as he could to enter a spot of empty space and spare the miko on his back any more harm than necessary, absorbing the shock of impact by bending his legs a great deal before standing back up to create a bit of a spring effect so that the landing wouldn't be too jarring for the human girl.

As soon as he straightened he called out "You okay?", and at her immediate reply of "Yeah." he settled her on her feet before quickly taking back off after the fucker who'd had the audacity to shoot at them.

The mutated, quasi-humanoid looking porcupine didn't have as strong of a survival instinct as the badger from earlier, and as Inuyasha closed in on the bugger he chose to continue firing off his quills at the hanyou, hunching himself forward almost to the point of curling himself into a ball of spikes to launch said spikes from over his shoulders as if he were wearing a rocket launcher on his back. The quills were approximately two feet long and as big around as a dime at their thickest end, tapering into razor sharp needle points, but they were fortunately not very strong in the youki department, the demonic energy involved used primarily to aim and fire the projectiles rather than charge them up as missiles that would explode on impact. It would be a nice effect if the quills themselves _were _youki-charged, but while stronger, higher ranking porpucine-youkai had enough youki to spare to accomplish such a thing, this guy was just too weak to add that extra oomph to his attacks. He could flow his youki up through the spikes and then bodily ram an enemy, curling fully into a ball and rolling into his target, which was usually done more in self-defense, or he could use that same youki to fire them away from his body instead, but then the quills themselves wouldn't be much more than giant flying needles in that case, which was the direction he'd chosen to go with this attack.

It was youki well spent, the porcupine-youkai _really _able to control the direction in which his quills traveled; even Inuyasha was having trouble dodging them all, since he could fire several at once and they grew back in a matter of seconds. A human traveler walking through the forest wouldn't stand a chance, which was the porcupine's usual prey. Luckily, Inuyasha discovered with delight that his mystery-fur robes were actually able to repel them, as some of the quills that he was unable to successfully avoid made contact with his person; they ricocheted harmlessly off of him to land on the ground without piercing the fabric of his kimono. That was a good bit of information to tuck away for later use, that his clothing was resistant to more than just fire, even though right in that moment he didn't really care since he could tell that the quills had virtually no youki flowing through them and so he knew he could probably walk away from a direct hit unscathed even without his protective garments. The miko was another story, though. She was _human _and could have been seriously injured had one of those quills struck her, and perhaps Inuyasha was in part angry with himself for having lowered his guard enough to _let_ this sniveling weakling of a bastard almost get one up on them, but whatever his motivation one swipe of his claws was all it took in that moment to make sure that that sad looking three foot high porcupine-man would never attack anyone else ever again.

Returning to where he'd left the miko, then, his ears flattened to his head to see her treating a few mild scrapes on her legs with some kind of medicinal ointment she'd had in her backpack.

"I'm sorry..." he murmured dejectedly.

She only offered him a knowing, reassuring smile.

"For what? Saving my life? I forgive you." she teased, chuckling a bit, which had him smirking ever so slightly before frowning again.

Putting her antiseptic away, Kagome decided to face the music and admitted, "I wasn't paying very close attention, either."

The _either _part had his cheeks darkening to a lovely shade of rose. How the hell did she know him so well when she didn't even _remember_ him? Was he _that _transparent? On the other hand, her confessing that she, too, had been distracted in such a way had him feeling less embarrassed about being aroused by her and more just angry with himself for failing in his role of protector.

"I can't help how I'm gonna feel, but...I fucked up." he admitted. "It won't happen again."

Kagome nodded, and admitted, "We both had a momentary lapse in mental disciplines, but I promise to stay focused, too. It's dangerous out here."

That was really the bottom line, wasn't it? How could he permit his mind to wander when there were literally enemies hiding at every turn? And even as he lectured himself, the very emotions running through his mind seemed familiar somehow, as if he'd actually had this same argument with himself before, which honestly didn't surprise him if he carried the miko around like that on any kind of a regular basis, but they had obviously done a fairly successful job of paying attention to their surroundings before now since they were still _alive _and he planned on continuing to keep it that way. Of course, a nagging little voice in the back of his mind whispered in that moment that perhaps that attack by the tengu had caught them off guard because he hadn't been paying attention at that time, that perhaps their entire situation was his fault, but he wouldn't let himself feel _too_ guilty about it until he _knew _that that was the case. Beating himself up over what might or might not have happened wouldn't do either one of them any good.

"Well, come on, we better get back to it." he stated then, approaching where the miko stood so that she could climb back up onto his back again.

As soon as he caught a whiff of her lingering arousal his eyes rolled back in his head as he groaned a bit, pausing in his approach, a reaction that did not go unnoticed by Kagome although it took her a minute to realize what had happened.

"What's wrong? Is the scent of my medicine bothering your nose?" she guessed incorrectly.

"I actually wish it were..." he mumbled, blushing a bit and turning around to give her his back.

As it dawned on Kagome that he could apparently smell her previous excitement, the scent of her dampened panties like a neon beacon to his nose, she faltered in her move to mount him again.

_Gah! Bad word choice_ ... she silently scolded herself at the unwanted mental image.

"Uh-ummm..." she mumbled unintelligibly, clearing her throat nervously as she fidgeted where she stood, self-consciously rubbing her legs together.

He sighed, getting tired of the runaround. They needed to treat this issue like an enemy and face it headlong, no more cowardice.

"Look, we just need to be mature about this." Inuyasha spoke up over his shoulder from his place crouched before her, probably able to say the words because he wasn't looking her in the eye at the moment, instead staring at the ground. "I'm physically attracted to you. There, I said it." he continued, "And you obviously feel the same way. I'll admit I'm glad to know that, but right now we just can't let our minds wander off in that direction. Who knows what other fucking youkai might be hiding in wait to get the jump on us? I'll be thinking with my _big_ head from now on."

Part of Kagome was mortified by his bluntness, but then again, on the other hand, she knew that every word he'd spoken was true. What was the point in denying or pretending to ignore feelings they'd both already known were there anyway? And she'd already semi-admitted to those feelings, herself, talking about it without talking about it as if it were some kind of a taboo they had to tiptoe around. It was much better to just get it all out in the open and face things reasonably and rationally. They weren't on some romantic getaway, after all, they were fighting for their freakin' lives! She needed to get her mind out of the gutter, dragging it out by its hair kicking and screaming if need be, and focus on her damn surroundings like the miko she was.

"Right." she stated then, nodding in determination before steadily climbing back up onto his back, her entire mannerism confident and surefooted.

After making sure she was secure and balanced he took back off, running along the ground again for a moment until he built up the necessary momentum to launch them both from tree to tree once more. He quickly located their old scent trail and continued back on course, hitting all of the same spots he had previously hit, tree for tree. The act of leaping through the trees like that did seem familiar to him, although he unfortunately did not recognize their actual surroundings in any way to possibly get a sense of how much further they had to go before arriving wherever it was they had been before entering this forest the first time around. Whatever the case, though, they were definitely making much better time traveling this way than walking slowly along the forest floor.

Keeping his senses stretched and on alert this time, Inuyasha could tell that most lower forest youkai were thankfully still continuing to just get out of their way, and for that he was grateful. Apparently _most _lower critters knew they were too much of a threat to bother with trying to challenge them for the miko's jewel shards. Apparently any given youkai's desire for the shards was solely dependent upon the youkai themselves, and some could choose against going for them, while others, like that badger, might be tempted at first but would quickly concede defeat when faced with their power, while others still, like that porcupine, were just mad enough to irrationally fight even if there was no chance of success. Then there were youkai like that tengu, who had been just on this side of powerful enough to actually pose a serious threat, and _those _were the youkai that Inuyasha was actually worried about. He hoped that any other higher youkai that might be in the area were relatively peaceful and would not desire the wicked temptation the shards provided, just like how he himself could now ignore them. Oh, he still knew they were there all right, and perhaps the base most part of himself still felt tempted by them, but he wasn't that stupid. Youki in and of itself was not an evil type of energy, it was simply energy in a raw form, just as reiki was another, albeit opposite, form of raw energy. Just as most miko were considered good and pure but there was also such a thing as dark miko, women who used the exact same kind of reiki for dark, evil purposes, so too were their good and bad youkai. He knew that because he himself was one of the good ones, and he could also tell that whatever was driving the force of youki from within those shards was _not_. Feeding off of his own youki almost, it was as if him holding that bottle had made the shards within it stronger, the youki turning to jyaki, and in turn that jyaki had wanted to flow back into him, turning him evil along with making him stronger. The crystals wouldn't just be a power boost for the body but they would warp his mind; of that he was sure.

That was...if he actually allowed himself to _use _them for their power, which he had no intention of doing. Doing so would be like opening a mental door, inviting the shards inside. He had been open to them when he'd held the bottle beforehand because he'd been curious, sniffing them out so to speak with his mind's eye to see what the big deal was all about, but now that he knew, Inuyasha felt confident that say, hypothetically if the miko lost the bottle, if the cord broke or something, he could now hold onto the bottle, or even the bare shards themselves, and they wouldn't do anything to him. They wouldn't turn him mad because he wouldn't _let_ them; he'd block them out, keeping the mental door _closed_. Perhaps if the shards were already black, tainted by some other force then they'd be too powerful for him to fight against, but so long as the shards were relatively pure like they were now then he was confident that _his _presence wouldn't taint them. How could he taint them when he wasn't evil? He couldn't explain how or why he seemed to understand how the jewel shards actually worked, but after opening up his mind to them for that brief instant he could just feel what they were all about now. The pure side of them craved purity, what the miko was giving them, and at the same time the dark side of them craved evil. Those shards had an even worse split personality than _he _did.

It was just too bad that they couldn't block the shards themselves from actually sending out their 'come hither' vibes to every random youkai within range. Just because he could tune them out and not let them affect his mind didn't mean other youkai would possess that same ability, or even the desire to try. Even though he imagined that it'd be hundreds if not thousands of times worse for them if the miko weren't able to keep the shards as pure as she was, they still had a 'come and get me if you dare' quality about them that was obviously appealing to _some _youkai. Fortunately, though, as Inuyasha continued to run, continuing to keep his senses fully open and on alert, he also continued to notice that any and all youki signatures they were approaching were actually vacating the area as they grew nearer. So far it looked like nobody else was interested in a fight, and hopefully it would _stay_ that way.

oooOooo

"I smell humans! It won't be long now!" Inuyahsa shouted over the wind of his running, to which Kagome shouted back "Great!"

For several hours they had raced non-stop, Kagome even foregoing taking a lunch break when he'd asked, replying over the wind that she wasn't that hungry and would rather they didn't waste any daylight. They'd only been bothered two more times by lower youkai since that morning, once only around a couple of hours or so after the porcupine incident when they'd stopped for a moment to investigate a small clearing where they'd both concluded the two of them had previously camped out for a night. While investigating the area a lowly scavenger youkai that had probably already been drawn to the area because of their lingering scents from before had jumped out at them from the shadows, but they had sensed its presence in advance and it was dispatched easily enough by Inuyasha's claws. Immediately heading back out, then, they'd had several hours of peaceful uninterrupted running, both of them now finally able to stay focused on their surroundings without listening to the tingling whispers of their bodies. Oh sure, Kagome was still semi-aroused physically, she couldn't help it, but she _could _ignore it in favor of staying aware of the world zipping by below them. It was hardly boring, hours upon hours of silent treetop racing; not when danger could literally sneak up on them at any given moment. Not that she was suddenly a nervous wreck on pins and needles, either, because she still felt fully confident in her hanyou guardian's ability to protect her; she still felt the absolute safest that she could be, riding on his back like that.

The second attack had come not that long ago, from some kind of a bird-youkai, proving the miko's unwavering faith in the hanyou was well placed as her canine steed sensed the would-be threat with plenty of time to engage in evasive maneuvers. Instructing Kagome over the ruckus to really hold onto him extra tightly he'd waited until he'd felt her obey and then released her right leg only for a moment to quickly swipe his claws at the tori-youkai mid-leap. Then it was no more.

Now, as they continued racing, playing beat the clock with the rapidly descending evening sun, Inuyasha had finally, _finally _detected the faint lingering trace of multiple human scents on the breeze. There was a village somewhere around there, and the wind had carried the hunters' and wood cutters' scents to their location. As they continued to run, jumping from tree to tree, the scent of humans, plus other things that _meant _humans, like smoke, only continued to get stronger, until finally they could both actually see a small human settlement resting in the distance with their highest leaps. It took them only mildly be surprise that their scent trail continued to lead them straight for the human village; a surprise that was quickly followed by elation. Perhaps these humans could help them! It didn't take long at all to close the final gap between themselves and the village and then before hanyou and miko knew it they were arriving at the edge of town, landing on the ground to a chorus of gasps and whispered murmurs of surprise, confusion and curiosity.

For a split second as Kagome slid down from his back Inuyasha found himself unexpectedly and unexplainably hit with a terrible feeling of nervousness and apprehension, suddenly worried about what these villagers' reactions to their impromptu appearance might actually be. His fight or flight mode was kicking it, and he didn't really understand why. Had he had bad past experiences in human villages that he couldn't now remember? There was no other way to explain where this agitated feeling was coming from; he only hoped it wasn't actually his subconscious trying to warn him about _this_ village in particular. He hadn't given the matter a second thought all throughout the entire time they'd been discussing their need to find other people, but now, suddenly now as he found himself standing among them, he found that he couldn't lower his guard; the same youkai instinct that hadn't had a problem with the miko was all of a sudden telling him _not _to blindly trust these people. He knew the miko; even though he couldn't remember her he knew he _knew _her, but he was pretty sure he did _not_ know these other villagers. As his ears started registering the words actually being whispered about them, though, he immediately relaxed a great deal. The villagers were surprised to see them, yes, but they also apparently knew who they were and their arrival was not a _bad _thing. The word 'heroes' was getting thrown around a lot. He sighed in relief, and easing the tension in his shoulders he walked confidently alongside the miko as she approached the gathering village men.

Okay, so maybe he could trust _these _villagers, after all, but he would tuck his initial reaction away to analyze further at a later time. Perhaps there was a human village out there somewhere that they could _not _trust and he definitely wouldn't want to run blindly into their ranks and suddenly find himself and the miko both under attack by an entire town. Since they were apparently being praised as some kind of heroes in this town, however, he now had high hopes that as originally planned these people might be able to help them.

"Hello...we apologize for rushing in on your community like this, but I'm afraid we are in desperate need of whatever aid you might possibly be able to provide us." Kagome began diplomatically as they finally closed the gap between themselves and the gathering village elders; they were both surprised but also grateful for the response they received.

"Not at all, Kagome-sama. We are forever in your debt, as I've stated. Please, how may we be of assistance?" the headman asked as he stepped forward, concern showing in his eyes for whatever mishaps might have befallen the duo.

"So..." Kagome started slowly, unsure of how to drop this bomb other than by just saying it outright. "You know us?"

That earned another round of gasps as the headman and a few village elders came even closer to the pair; Inuyasha did not tense back up as he could scent no malice in these men.

"Miko-sama, what has happened? Has something robbed your memories?" one of the other men asked in great concern.

"Unfortunately, that is precisely what has happened." Kagome started to answer, Inuyasha chiming in with, "It was a tengu, who used some sort of flowery smelling white powder. My guess is it was breathing that crap in that caged our minds." Kagome then spoke back up asking, "Does anyone here know how to undo such magic?"

"Oh merciful kami. No, I am so very sorry for you both, but we know of no magic workers other than yourselves." the headman stated apologetically.

"What do you remember?" another man asked the pair.

As the headman and village elders ushered Kagome and Inuyasha away from the crowd and towards an area where they could speak more privately, Kagome too felt like she could trust these people and so she decided to be completely honest, for the most part, leaving out anything that was none of their business such as her and the hanyou's attraction for one another although other than that she basically relayed the entirety of what had happened to them both since awakening to existence mid morning of the previous day. She explained how they didn't know anything about themselves other than what they had been able to deduce, and that they had literally followed the hanyou's nose back to their village in the hope of finding somebody else who knew them and could possibly help them in some way.

The village headman felt regretful that they could not be of very much aid to the pair, although he did immediately relay every bit of information that he could, especially grateful now that he had asked the hanyou for their names as that was the first bit of information he immediately shared with them. Kagome had heard him call her Kagome once already, when they had first arrived, so she had correctly assumed that that was her name although Inuyasha had still been in the dark regarding his own, and he was grateful to learn his name as well in that moment. It did sound familiar to him, now, to hear the miko say it, as she repeated it a few times as if to test its weight on her tongue. After that the headman continued to recount how they had come into their village the day before last, literally dropping out of the sky to defeat a terrible oni that had been threatening their village because unbeknownst to the individual in question one of their villagers had been in possession of a shard of the Shikon no Tama, which Kagome had then collected before departing. He told them also of how they had stayed for a brief while after defeating the oni so that Kagome could pray over the deceased while Inuyasha disposed of the oni's remains, but that they had then stated shortly afterwards that they were in a hurry to depart, unable to stay any longer and partake in a celebratory feast because they had been traveling with friends of theirs to answer the cry for aid from another village. He explained that _they_ had told _him _that they had just not been able to leave his village to the mercy of that oni and so the miko and hanyou had made the decision to separate from their companions in order to save them, and also to collect the sacred jewel shard, which was her duty, while their friends had continued onward due east to aid whatever other village they had all originally been heading towards upon their giant, flying youkai.

The name of this other village where they had been headed or how far away it lied the headman unfortunately did not know, nor did he know the names of their other companions, although Kagome believed they were almost definitely the same people she had dreamt about the night before. It was great to know that she and Inuyasha did indeed still travel with other companions, strongly suggesting that her dream had shown her a more recent memory and not a glimpse from a time long ago with friends they no longer traveled with. She thanked the headman for all of the information he had given them, assuring him that they were far better off now than they had previously been. Besides finally knowing their own names, Kagome now also knew with finality that it was apparently her sacred duty to collect these jewel shards; she wasn't just some random person also in possession of them but was actually actively seeking them out to keep them pure and away from wicked youkai. Upon asking, the village headman even went on to tell her what he knew about the jewel itself, of how it was a bobble of great power that was rumored to grant its possessor whatever his or her heart desired although other rumors also suggested it was cursed and brought whoever held it nothing but trouble. The jewel had disappeared around fifty years ago but had mysteriously reappeared and was subsequently shattered a few months ago, its shards wrecking havoc across the land whenever they became in the possession of somebody or some_thing _who would use them for evil. Nodding at that bit of information, Kagome could then understand why she was collecting and purifying them, even though she still had absolutely no idea how she'd gotten that job in the first place, what made it _her _responsibility. Apparently it was, and so really the how or why didn't matter in that moment.

Inquiring next about where they were, what region, earned her an answer she didn't recognize as the headman stated a regional name that was unfamiliar to her, and when she asked next about the possible location of any major cities he referred only to the empire of the shogunate, something that really struck her as odd since she wanted to say that she knew the whole shogun reign was a thing of the past, although she supposed she couldn't rightfully trust what she'd since dubbed her 'subconscious memories', all things considered. Still, sensing that he had absolutely no idea what she was actually talking about by her use of the word 'city' Kagome tried one other thing and asked him plainly and politely if he had a phone that she could borrow, and when he only blinked at her in confusion and asked her in turn what a 'phone' was she immediately let it go, brushing it off with a wave of her hand and a quietly murmured "Never mind." despite her growing feeling of trepidation. It was still true that she was very grateful for the information he _had_ provided them, even though she was mildly confused and concerned as to why it suddenly almost felt like she was stuck in the past somehow...were some rural villages really _that _rural? But she would worry about that later. After all, Inuyasha had stated that he knew what a city was, recollecting the visual imagery of giant concrete buildings, so she knew she wasn't _crazy_. It was a bit of a mystery, yes, but one she would worry about later. Bottom line, Kagome and Inuyasha at least now knew for sure, thanks to the headman's confirmation, that they did indeed have a group of friends out there, somewhere, and so _they _were who they needed to try and find next.

It would be difficult, since they had no identifying scent for Inuyasha to go on for tracking purposes, although at least thanks to her dream Kagome felt confident that she would recognize them when and if she saw them. Even if they _did _have a sample of their scents Inuyasha probably wouldn't be able to track them anyway since they had apparently been flying very high up in the air on some kind of a giant, friendly youkai. With nothing physical for their scents to cling to, to leave a mark behind, the air trail would have blown away on the wind by now. The only thing they had to go on was a direction, although that was definitely better than nothing; confirmation that their friends had taken off in the same direction they themselves had later departed in was actually a _huge _bit of helpful information, otherwise with no direction to go on they would pretty much be screwed. Kagome and Inuyasha had already determined based on the straight path of their trail over the trees that they had been making a bee-line towards wherever it was they'd been headed, and they now knew for a fact that a village rested in that direction, a village that had been in need of their aid in some way or another, and so the game plan now was to head back in that direction and stop in each and every village that lied directly in their path, inquiring about the others until they found a group of villagers that recognized her description of their friends and confirmed for them that they were in fact in the right place.

She only hoped that the others weren't suffering because of their absence, that whatever the problem was they had been going their to help with it had been something that their friends had been able to handle on their own.

Inuyasha could easily sense this growing worry in Kagome, as he glanced her way to see the way she was biting her lower lip, the look in her eyes troubled. It was getting very late, and they really did need to rest for the night, but yet a part of her was undoubtedly wanting to take back off right away. But how could they just blindly rush into a situation when they had absolutely no idea what they'd be facing up against?

"I'm sure our friends are fine, Kagome." he assured her quietly, earning a surprised glance from the miko who hadn't realized she'd been wearing her emotions so outwardly.

"If our presence had been absolutely needed to help take care of whatever was going on in that other village then do you really think we would've split up like this?" he reasoned. "We either wouldn't have stopped at all, or if we really couldn't leave these poor villagers alone, if that oni had really been that bad, then it would've made much more sense that _all _of us stopped to help so that killing the oni would get done sooner and then we _all _would have left again, staying together, if our friends absolutely needed us to help them with whatever else it was. With us splitting up like this, it's more like you 'n' me are backup, and I bet whatever it is they don't even need us."

"Your urgency to depart from our village did not seem rushed or panicked, as though every second were a matter of life or death." the headman chimed in, wishing to reassure the miko himself at the hanyou's words. "You clearly could not dawdle, but you did stay for a while to dispose of the oni's remains and also to perform the last rights of our fallen, tasks I am sure you would have expressed a regret in being unable to perform had you truly been in _that _much of a hurry."

"I suppose you're right..." Kagome murmured quietly, realizing both men made perfect sense. "Still, I suppose we best get going so that we can cover at least a little ground before it gets too dark."

"Please..." the headman spoke back up at that. "It is so late now, sunset will be here very shortly. Please allow us to grant you a free room and evening and morning meals within our village, so that you might start out on your journey tomorrow morning refreshed and well fed. It is the least we can do."

"Well..."

Part of Kagome wanted to say no, but a much larger part of her wanted to immediately say yes. What _was _the logic in just rushing out only to have to make camp in an hour or two? It wasn't like they could run straight through the night, and so in that case staying the night in the village instead wouldn't really lose them any more than an hour or two on their journey, and being well rested and well fed would certainly aid them in the long run. They wouldn't have to waste any time hunting and cooking breakfast, for one thing, so that would probably make up close to those two hours right there.

Sensing the change in her mood and realizing that she was about to say yes Inuyasha beat her to it, chiming in with "Sounds good to me." He wouldn't have said anything had Kagome been adamant against it, but truth be told he thought the idea of staying the night in the village was a good one.

He was now positive based on his earlier initial reaction to arriving in the village that he would absolutely _loath _the idea of staying in a human settlement if he felt like he couldn't trust the locals, but he did feel like he could trust these particular people and so for that reason he felt perfectly safe within their borders. More than that, he actually felt safer here than out in the woods. Okay sure, they had recently been under attack by a powerful oni, but the headman had specifically stated that that attack had been because one of the villagers had had a slightly tainted jewel shard in his possession, which Kagome had then collected and purified. That just supported his theory that less pure shards would be more tempting to more youkai than the pure ones that Kagome carried, and if the way _most _forest youkai had been giving them a wide birth was any indication then he _seriously _doubted any of them were actually going to risk breaching the border of a human village in order to attack them, especially when her shards were kept so pure. The few little youkai who _had _tried to attack them had clearly all just been taking advantage of the fact that they'd been right there, rushing into their location, and so for them it'd been an opportunity of circumstance. 'Hey, these jewel shards are coming right for me, maybe I should try and snatch them as the hanyou and miko rush by.' Shaking his head, Inuyasha snorted to himself in amusement at that thought. Those sniveling excuses for youkai hadn't been what he'd consider a threat in the first place; certainly nothing to be afraid of now. And then as if reading his mind the village headman went and said that their nightwatchmen would be on duty throughout the entire night, ensuring that even _if _something dared to approach them there would be plenty of advanced warning. That sealed the deal, for hanyou and miko alike.

"That settles it, then." Kagome agreed with a smile, realizing that if Inuyasha was actually keen on the idea of staying in such a safe place for the night that she definitely didn't want to argue against it.

He could use the opportunity to actually get a decent night's sleep, she'd quickly realized, since she knew he hadn't rested much the night before, if at all. Things might get even more stressful once they left this village, racing back in the opposite direction in the hope of finding their friends, people who might be engaged in the middle of a battle against some kind of a beast or another when they found them. She and Inuyasha might be running headlong into a fight, and one they knew absolutely nothing about in advance to even hope to prepare themselves for it, and so if they could get a good night's sleep for that one night before charging blindly into the unknown then that was an opportunity much too good to pass up, Kagome realized.

"Excellent!" the headman spoke up then, quickly showing hanyou and miko to a relatively small hut that lied within his family's compound, which was near the center of town, as far away from the bordering forest as possible. They would be quite safe there, indeed, and undisturbed, as he promised them their privacy, inviting them to join him and his family in the main house for dinner that evening before retiring while also stating that they could come in at any time of their choosing for breakfast in the morning before departing. There would be no wake-up call; none of his people would disturb them if they wanted to sleep-in and take advantage of getting however much rest their bodies required after all that they had been through recently.

When Kagome stated softly that she was truly grateful for all that he was doing for them but that she didn't want to impose on any members of his family, forcing anybody out of their home for the night to make an empty place for them to sleep, the headman solemnly explained that the young man who had lived in that small hut, his nephew, was actually among the few who had fallen during the oni attack, though not because the oni had gotten that far within their borders. Knowing that Kagome and Inuyasha could not remember how that battle had actually gone down he explained how his nephew, along with several other strong bodied young men, had rushed to the scene at the oni's arrival, trying their best to ward it off, with unfortunately little success. Kagome apologized profusely at that, stating that they didn't need to stay in his late nephew's home if that would be too awkward, but the village headman immediately waved off their concerns, assuring Kagome that she had honored his nephew, and all of the fallen, with her funeral blessings. It was his honor for her to stay on his family compound for the night, and he knew his nephew would be happy to share his home with them as payment for saving the rest of their village.

With that very mild bit of awkwardness settled as Kagome again agreed to stay with another humbly murmured thanks, she left her quiver, bow and backpack in the small hut in question before then accompanying the headman as he led both she and Inuyasha back to the main house, where the two of them had been invited to dine with his entire family. Nobody in the main house said anything about the hanyou choosing to keep his katana on his person; he was a hero warrior among them and so none of the headman's family considered it a rude gesture. Just as Inuyasha felt safer within this particular village than out in the woods, so too did the human villagers actually feel safer for this one night with he and Kagome staying within their borders.

Dinner was a quiet, peaceful affair, nothing like the celebratory feast the headman had originally wanted to prepare to honor the heroes two days prior. That was all right with the hanyou and miko, though. The food was good, the atmosphere pleasant, and when they departed for their room for the night afterwards Inuyasha couldn't help feeling warm and tingly inside as he caught the miko's gentle smile when she glanced his way in return. He couldn't blame it on the saké, since he had declined partaking in any, as had Kagome. He didn't know her reasoning although for himself he'd wanted only to make sure he kept his senses sharp. Although he _did _trust these villagers and did feel safer here than out in the forest that didn't mean he wanted to just go ahead and lower his guard _completely_. The headman had stated he understood and had not appeared to feel insulted. When Kagome had declined the saké as well, after him, Inuyasha hadn't been able to tell if she'd actually been thinking along the same lines he had been, as had been the excuse she'd verbally given, or if there had actually been another thought running through her mind at the time, but thinking back on the events of the day a light dusting of pink came to Inuyasha's cheeks as he quickly decided he was glad for Kagome's desire to remain sober, whatever her reasons. He didn't need to be any more tempted by her than he already felt.

A part of him actually found it a little strange how the village headman was so okay with the idea of the two of them sharing the same small, single-room hut for the night. Wasn't there some kind of a propriety rule against such things? Not that he really cared, of course, because even if the man _had _tried to separate the two of them he would have insisted that he and Kagome stay in the same room or the deal was off, anyway, for the simple fact that he refused to let her out of his sight. But the fact that it was actually the headman's idea that they _share _a room kind of threw him for a loop, as if a part of him had actually been expecting opposition and it was highly unusual that they had received none. Whatever the case, he certainly wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, though...

_Where the hell did I get a weird-ass expression like __that?_he questioned himself the very moment the unexpected analogy constructed itself in his brain.

Shrugging it off after a moment, Inuyasha continued walking beside the miko..._Kagome, her name is Kagome_...until they made it to the small hut in question, reentering the room he'd already seen for a brief moment when Kagome had put her things away before dinner.

Little did he know, Kagome's thoughts were a similar whirlwind to his own in that moment, as she slipped out of her shoes in the dirt entryway before stepping up onto the raised wooden platform to walk forward into the rest of the house.

Why _had _the village headman been so okay with them sharing the same quarters for the night? Not that she minded, of course, but for some odd reason she had totally been expecting somebody to at the very least produce a privacy screen with which to divide the small space. As she glanced around the hut in that moment she immediately noticed that there was none.

_Maybe he thinks we're_ ..._? _

_That_ thought would start creating an emotional reaction within her that would be much easier for the hanyou to pick up on, she knew, so Kagome quickly clicked her thoughts over onto another subject in that moment. Besides, truth be told, she was glad for the close quarters. She wouldn't have wanted to be separated from him even if the headman _had _thought to put them in different rooms. The flustered schoolgirl in her played a fairly insignificant role in comparison to the warrior miko who felt safest in Inuyasha's presence because he was her sworn protector. Wherever he went she would follow, simple as that.

_That's funny_ ... she thought then, chuckling a little to herself as she knelt on the floor and opened her backpack to retrieve her pajamas. _He's__ the one who's actually half canine, but yet __I__ almost feel like the loyal puppy_.

The world was a big, scary place when you had no memories regarding who you were or where you lived, after all, a situation made even scarier for Kagome by other people not even understanding the few things she could still kind of half-ass remember about the world itself, like the headman not knowing what a telephone was, and so a _big_ part of her definitely felt like clinging onto Inuyasha like her lifeline. If it weren't for his reassuring presence she would have probably freaked the hell out long before now. A large part of her was actually still very frightened, and rightfully so, she imagined, but at the same time she just felt safe because Inuyasha was with her; nothing bad could happen to her so long as he was there.

Said hanyou was curious about the miko's thoughts by that point, as she had been silent for the last few minutes aside from chuckling quietly to herself at one point, but he could tell that her mood was a pleasant one whatever she was thinking about and so for that reason he didn't pester her about it. The silence was broken by him when he saw her gather her night clothes, as he said "Here, I'll let you change." before slipping out past the hanging reed mat that functioned as a door to the quaint dwelling.

Changing quickly, Kagome then called softly to the hanyou, knowing he would easily hear her, that it was safe for him to come back in now. He immediately did so, and then after slipping his sheathed katana from his obi and leaning it against the left wall by her bow and arrows he proceeded to gather some of the firewood from the opposite side of the room to stack in the firepit. She'd made all their previous fires while he'd been hunting, so since they had both been fed this time around he figured the least he could do for her would be to star the fire himself this time. They might not even need one but on the other hand it could possibly get really cold in the middle of the night without one and he didn't want to take any chances; she was human and could become ill if permitted to get too cold.

Kagome watched him work with an appreciative smile, until that smile turned into a perplexed frown as she saw him start trying to make a fire egg using the old fashioned drilling method.

"Why are you doing it _that _way?" she asked, her tone not really sarcastic but more genuinely confused.

He was confused himself in turn as he glanced up from his work at her question, replying, "Because I don't have a firesteel." as if it were obvious.

But then his eyes widened in dawning, as a bit of a _duh _expression appeared on his face, realizing that she had an entire pack of miscellaneous supplies, most of which he hadn't seen, and that judging by how easily she had always had a roaring fire ready and waiting for him when he'd returned with his catches she clearly had a quicker way of going about it than the drilling method, which he figured could be difficult for humans who were more used to a flint and steel. Something told him that he'd be able to do it his way no problem, thanks to his demonic speed and accuracy, but that didn't mean he wouldn't gladly take a shortcut if he were able.

"Though if _you _have a firesteel and flint then yeah, hand 'em over." he stated then as he sat his drilling aside, his tone of voice appreciative as he gazed her way with a thankful smile.

"Uh...I don't have _that_, but I do have matches." Kagome explained then, noting the way her hanyou companion cocked his head to the side in canine curiosity at her statement as she produced said matches from her backpack.

Inuyasha openly stared, watching with total fascination as she struck one of the matches, which immediately flared to life, before then proceeding to ignite the tinder in the center of the firepit. Once again the concept seemed completely foreign and yet somehow also familiar to him at the same time, as if a part of him believed such a thing as these 'matches' shouldn't even exist even though he also felt as if he _had _seen them before, and so he chalked it up to something else of the miko's that he had been exposed to because of his relationship with her. It made sense, didn't it? Hell, she had even said that a part of her wanted to argue that there was no such thing as youkai, as if she had actually come from some far away, isolated human society that didn't even believe youkai existed any more because they were so well protected from them that they had become nothing more than rumor, and yet at the same time she was also fully accepting that all she'd seen since waking up was real and she wasn't crazy, knowing that she _was_ friends with an inu-hanyou and even knowing what that tengu had been as she'd helped him fight against it. So since Kagome had clearly been raised in some far away place before coming into his part of the world, seeing things she hadn't originally known existed, then it made sense that she might also have some strange things of her own that he hadn't previously known existed either, right?

"That's pretty handy." he commented then in regard to the matches, as he continued to stack the wood so that their fire would burn the best, unconcerned about his dangling sleeves now that he knew his robes wouldn't ignite.

"So is having fireproof skin and clothing." Kagome commented with a chuckle as she watched him work, totally impressed and perhaps even a tad bit jealous of his ability. He certainly made being human seem like the raw end of the deal in comparison, not that she imagined he was showing off on purpose.

He shrugged.

"I don't think my body is fire _proof_, it probably just takes a hell of a lot more to get it going. After all, according to the headman I'd instructed the villagers to burn that oni's head and they did so without difficulty."

"Maybe dead youkai flesh burns easier?" Kagome hypothesized.

"Not going to test _that _theory." he joked, and she chuckled a bit again.

"Maybe you're just way stronger than that oni was, or maybe it actually _was_ made out of wood. It apparently looked like a tree-man of sorts, from what they said."

"That could be." Inuyasha agreed, as he finally pulled his hands out of the fire, the wood stacked nicely with the blaze growing hotter and brighter by the minute.

"Well, you better go ahead and try to get some sleep, since they gave us this opportunity to rest safe and sound tonight." he added after a moment, noting the way her whole posture was kind of slumped as she sat a little crooked with her bent legs only halfway tucked underneath her.

Hearing those words actually perked her up a little bit, as she glanced his way with a smile that was even warmer than the fire. "You too, you know. You didn't get any sleep last night so you should _really _take advantage of this opportunity."

"Don't worry, I intend to." he assured her as he scooted away from the fire a little bit to stretch out on the wooden floor, lying behind and to the right of the firepit from the perspective of the front of the house.

An observer looking in through the doorway would see Inuyasha and Kagome both behind the fire, Kagome sitting on the left with Inuyasha on the right, lying flat on his back in that moment with the top of his head pointed towards the back of the hut, as he gazed blinking up at the ceiling.

The position felt kind of funny to him, reemphasizing the impression he'd gotten the night before that he didn't usually lie down like that, although it was far too comfortable in that moment to worry about why he didn't normally do so. Who cared? For tonight that was how he planned on sleeping.

Kagome scooted away from the fire as well in that moment, digging her sleeping bag out from the bottom of her backpack before setting the giant yellow bag back against the left side wall of the hut behind her, by their weapons, not consciously aware of the eyes upon her as her shuffling around earned her the lazy attention of her roommate, who'd tilted his head to gaze in her direction as she worked. Kagome bit her bottom lip in thought as she unrolled her sleeping bag, thinking about her silent companion. She'd noticed a folded up futon in the far back corner of the room, but while she didn't really feel like she was invading the headman's nephew's privacy staying in his hut for the night using his futon would be crossing the line, she felt. Though of course, on the other hand, how fair was it for poor Inuyasha to once again go without bedding, especially when there _was_ an available option at their disposal? It didn't take long at all for her concerns from the night before to rear their ugly head, with regard to her hanyou friend having to sleep on the ground, and this time there wasn't even a tree for him to perch in as an alternative, though she also imagined a wooden floor was better than dirt, at least. She wouldn't bring it up unless he did; she would still much rather he slept on the floor as opposed to getting no sleep at all, and she was sure he felt the same way.

Of course, she should have realized that her thoughts on the matter wouldn't go unnoticed. She didn't know if something in her scent had actually given her away, or if even simpler than that her facial expression had betrayed her instead, but as she crawled into her sleeping bag in that moment Inuyasha rolled himself over onto his right side to gaze more fully in her direction, propping his head up on his right hand, his arm bent at the elbow against the floor.

"Something the matter?" he asked her quietly.

She sighed and chuckled a bit, shaking her head at herself as she rolled over and propped her head up on her left hand, mirroring his posture while lying half tucked within the sleeping bag.

"Still just feel bad that I don't have an extra bedroll for you, is all." she admitted, seeing no point in denying it. "There _is _a futon you could use, though, I guess..." she added hesitantly, gesturing to said item with a flick of her right hand.

"Bah..." Inuyasha waved off with his left. "What do I need bedding for?" he asked, trying to make her see that he was a lot tougher than she was, what with himself being half youkai while she was only human. "I ain't cold, and sleeping without padding ain't gonna hurt my back or nothin'."

He did _not_ want to use the deceased nephew's futon, though not because the guy was dead. He just didn't want to use anybody else's bedding, period, since it would be full of their scent. The hut itself didn't smell too strongly of the stranger, since it had been a couple of days; his lingering scent was stale and faded. The futon itself, on the other hand, kind of smelled badly to his nose, and so he was grateful for it being shoved away in the far back corner with Kagome lying so much closer to him than it was. He didn't want any other smells masking Kagome's delectable perfume.

"Still...maybe if I empty some of the hard stuff out of it you could at least use my backpack as a pillow or something." Kagome added then, unaware of her companion's thoughts as she sat up within her sleeping bag and turned her head, gazing over her right shoulder to where her backpack rested against the side wall, near their weapons.

Inuyasha mulled that idea over before quickly deciding against it, unsure if using her backpack as a pillow would actually keep him up all night or lull him into an even deeper sleep than what he wanted to achieve. It would be nice, having that much stronger of a concentration of Kagome's scent literally right under his nose, but potentially dangerous as well, even though he knew the odds were slim that there would actually be any sort of youkai attack on that night. But it wasn't only being oblivious to the scent of creeping youkai that he was worried about. Worst case scenario the bag would keep him 'up' all night, even if he _did _fall asleep, and he wasn't really sure he wanted to know what waking up in the same room as her would be like in the morning if he ended up having one of _those _kinds of dreams during the night. What if he moaned in his sleep? Called out her name? How embarrassing! I mean sure, he'd already admitted to her that he found her attractive, but that didn't mean he wanted to give her a free show that she could laugh about in the morning. His face would probably permanently become the same color as his robes.

"No thanks, my nose is full of enough of your scent as it is." he blurted then, not really thinking about how she might take it as he shuddered at the mental imagery his mind was already torturing him with at just the thought of _maybe _dreaming about her in such a way. He had to close his eyes and will his growing excitement to die back down.

Surprised and a little embarrassed by his words, Kagome didn't understand what he was hinting at at first and self-conciously lifted her right arm to sniff her own armpit.

"I...I'm sorry. I guess that brief soak in the spring yesterday didn't qualify as much of a bath, huh? Didn't use any soaps or anything..." she trailed off lamely, glancing over her shoulder again as she contemplated scooting herself a little further away from him, closer to the wall.

Inuyasha saw all this, of course, his eyes popping back open at her words, and so with an amused smile he was immediately up and sitting right in front of her in a cross-legged pose, his arms crossed as well and tucked within the voluminous sleeves of his suikan. She turned back his way and flinched in surprise the tiniest bit, simply startled by his rapid movement, but then she merely blinked at him in bemusement.

"Baka..." he teased playfully, his eyes sparkling. "I didn't say you smelled _bad_."

She blushed at that, and he chuckled.

"I like your scent, okay?" he admitted then, getting a tad more serious. "I like it a lot, actually, and _that's _why I don't think it'd be a good idea if I just breathed you in all night long like that, since that yellow bag is just drenched in your scent. It would be..._distracting_." he emphasized, smirking at the way her blush got even darker.

"O-okay, then..." she stuttered, earning another chuckle from the hanyou.

Seeing the playful teasing in his eyes quickly had her relaxing a little, though, her genuine thoughtfulness overriding her embarrassment to try and think of a genuine solution to the problem.

"What if you took off your suikan and we wrapped it around my backpack? Then that should mask my scent coming from the bag and you'd still get to use it as a pillow."

He raised an eyebrow at her, his playful smirk turning into a softer smile.

"You really care that much, huh?" he asked, his tone of voice not really surprised but more as if he already knew it to be true and he was just stating the obvious, the look in his eyes appreciative. "You do realize that my suikan is covered in your scent as well though, right?" he reminded, a hint of a teasing glint coming back into his eyes.

Surprisingly, she actually rolled her own eyes at that instead of getting more embarrassed.

"Not on the _inside_, just flip it inside out. Or use your kosode instead."

"Now you're just trying to get me to take my clothes off."

Kagome actually laughed at that, reaching forward with her right hand and playfully shoving at the middle of his chest a little as if trying to push him away from being so close within her personal space, although of course he didn't budge; he was much too strong for her.

"Fine, be a baka." she stated with a chuckle as she shoved again, a little harder that time. "Just go back over to your side of the room and sleep on the floor, then. See if I care."

Her smile betrayed her playfulness as she shoved again with laughter in her eyes.

He was surprised by her strength as she shoved him harder and actually unfolded his arms to reach up and grab her wrist with his right hand, laughing as well with a teasing "Hey!" coming from his lips as he pretended as if she'd almost caused him to topple over. She wasn't _that _strong although he was honestly impressed with the force she'd exerted. Strength built up from repeatedly firing a bow, no doubt.

Kagome blinked in surprise as she felt him grab her wrist, laughing at first and half tempted to do something silly like blow a raspberry in his face until her gaze drifted downward to see the way he held her wrist in place, and then suddenly her eyes were widening to realize just how petite her hand actually seemed in comparison to his own much larger one. His hand was so _huge_, the visual almost looked like an adult grabbing a child's wrist.

"Oh wow...your hands are so big..." she commented, not really thinking about what she was doing as she reached up with her left hand for where his right hand held her right wrist.

Had he been familiar with the running joke stereotype from her world about what 'they say' about men with big hands he might have been tempted to make a joke about it, but as it was he still found her antics amusing and smirked to himself in silence as he complied with her unspoken request for him to release her wrist, as she lowered her right hand while maneuvering her left hand to press her left and his right hands together, palm to palm, so that they could compare just how much larger his hand actually was to hers. The gesture was purely innocent on Kagome's part, her eyes alight with wonder as if the size of his massive, clawed hand truly mystified her.

In actuality that wasn't very far from the truth, as Kagome's thoughts were running along the line of feeling in awe that such a powerful, magical being as him was truly her friend and protector. These strong, deadly hands, he'd used them to keep her safe, and even to keep her fed. And while she'd seen them slice through their enemies and could only imagine he'd used his bare hands to gut and skin his catches as well, he had still held her legs so _tenderly _as they'd ran together, her on his back. She'd had no fear of his claws then, and she had no fear of his claws now. Perhaps that was foolish of her, or perhaps it wasn't, but she'd been feeling in her soul from the very beginning that she knew she could trust this man, and that feeling hadn't changed, nor did she believe it ever would.

Of course, as Inuyasha gazed silently at the way Kagome was staring at their joined hands, he felt an entirely different type of wonder start to stir within him. Something was beginning to smolder from deep within his very core, something that he'd only oh-so recently been trying to keep a lid on so that it wouldn't boil over. That look of amazement in her eyes, to know it was directed at _him _he found humbling, but that didn't stop him from also noticing just how soft Kagome's hands actually felt, or from wondering what they would feel like on other parts of his body.

_Is she just going to sit there and stare at our hands like that for the rest of the fucking night?_

He couldn't take it any more, he had to say something.

"K-Kagome..." he choked out, the word much more shaky than what he'd been hoping for.

It succeeded in bringing her out of her trance, though, as her eyes darted from their joined hands up to his face, and there was _no _mistaking the look of lust burning in his eyes as he stared right back at her, unconsciously licking his lips.

Flushing a bright cherry red, she quickly yanked her hand away as if he'd burned her. She _did_ feel rather hot, all of a sudden.

"S-sorry..." she squeaked out lamely, earning an earthy chuckle from the hanyou.

"Do you have any idea just how cute you look when you blush like that?" he asked her with a teasing edge to his voice as he recrossed his arms, knowing damn well the question would make her blush even darker, which she did.

"You're still being a baka..." she murmured pitifully, hating feeling so embarrassed and unsure where the blame for her emotions truly lied. Perhaps she actually had no real reason to be embarrassed at all, and of course that possibility only embarrassed her all the more, for being so silly and shy when she shouldn't be.

She thought he would probably just chuckle again at her words; she wasn't prepared for how serious he suddenly became.

"I don't think so." he answered, his tone reflecting polite disagreement. "I'm being honest."

Something in his tone of voice earned him her eyes meeting his own again in that moment.

"You are so very handsome, too, you know." she admitted then, and he didn't blush, although he did smile kind of shyly instead of repeating his smirk from before.

"Even with the ears?" he asked her, his tone kind of teasing as he wiggled said appendages back and forth.

He wasn't stupid, and knew full well that they made him look different from a normal human, even though he didn't presently recall any of the bad experiences he'd suffered through as a result of said differences. He supposed that if most people were just going to view him as a youkai then it didn't really matter what he looked like, but if Kagome might possibly be interested in him as a _man _then he could concede that his youkai traits might be a bit weird for her.

"Oh, _especially _with the ears." Kagome replied then, her own voice teasing as well as she lifted up her right hand and gave his left ear a playful tweak.

He chuckled again at that, as he continued to sit with crossed arms and legs before her, while Kagome sat with her legs tucked halfway underneath herself and halfway within the sleeping bag, the top of which was pooled around her waist.

"Did that seem familiar to you, as I did that?" she asked suddenly, causing Inuyasha to blink in surprise at the unexpected question. "'Cause I've kinda been wanting to do that for a while now." she admitted with a faint bit of blush returning to her cheeks.

He laughed a little more before offering her a crooked grin.

"I couldn't tell...do it again." he replied, eyes sparkling.

Laughing and smiling as well, Kagome complied, reaching up with both hands that time to rub both of his ears between her fingers.

_They're so soft! _ she squealed like a girl within her mind.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head a bit to grant her better access, thoroughly enjoying the attention, although...he reluctantly acknowledged...she'd better stop it soon or else he'd be giving her some attention of her own, and she might not appreciate it as much.

"Kami, you could do that all night, but you'd better stop it." he rumbled out, and for once Kagome understood right away, no brief moment of confusion first.

She had no idea what possessed her to say such a bold thing in that moment, but... "What if I don't want to stop?"

Lazily opening his eyes, he uncrossed his arms and reached up with both hands to gently cup her own, pulling her hands away from his tingling ears to rest them in his lap, still held within his grasp.

"Kagome...we...we need to stop this, before I _can't _stop it."

"And what is 'it'?"

"Don't play dumb."

Shifting her gaze to the fire for a moment, Kagome appeared to think a few things over, the silence in the hut almost deafening as Inuyasha remained sitting directly in front of her, waiting for whatever it was she was about to say.

"I...I feel like you are somebody very special to me. I can feel it in here..." She gently removed her right hand from his left and brought it up to her heart, her left hand still held by his right, resting on his leg.

"I know I've gotten embarrassed kind of easily a few times..." she continued, and he chuckled a bit at the cute reminder, "...but really, I think it's just because I'm so drawn to you. It's just weird feeling so connected to you when I still can't _really _remember a single thing _about_ you. I feel like, in a way, it would be like throwing myself at a total stranger, and even though I can't remember anything about my past, either, I know _me_, in my _heart_, and I know I'm not the kind of girl who does that sort of thing."

He nodded in agreement at that, for some reason feeling like he knew she wasn't like that, either.

"But yet, at the same time..." she continued, "...despite that feeling I also feel like you're _not _a stranger, and so then I've actually been kind of snapping at myself for acting so silly about it all, 'cause what is there to feel embarrassed about, really? Maybe there's a perfectly legitimate reason why we're so attracted to each other."

"I totally get where you're comin' from." he assured her when he felt like it was his turn to speak. "I can smell you all over me, 'n' me all over you, and even your giant yellow satchel. The scent transfer is so thorough that we must've been together for a long ass time now. I also feel deep down that you are somebody who's very important to me; I'm definitely not just protectin' you out of honor, like it's some kind of duty. I don't think I was _hired _to keep you safe because of those stupid jewel shards, although I'm sure they're probably why you need protectin'. I definitely do feel like it's my duty to protect you, but what I mean is I feel like I _chose _for it to be my duty, myself; I _want _to keep you safe. I know it would just kill me inside if something bad happened to you, and the fact that I can't remember shit about you don't seem to matter none when it comes to that. I just feel what I feel, I know what I know, and I know that detail about me 'n' you just the same as I knew how to hunt, or that it felt natural restin' in that tree last night. Whoever you are, and whoever else the two of us might know in our lives, you've got to be the most important person to me. I know what feels right and what feels wrong and it definitely don't feel like somethin' is missing, ya know? Ain't no doubt in my mind, all that really matters to me is you."

Kagome smiled softly at that.

"So if we both feel in our hearts and souls that we are special to each other, more so than any other person, then it _must _be true." she stated matter-of-factly, looking into his eyes, her own pools sparkling with a sea of mixed emotions.

_Is it wrong to think I love him when I can't remember him? _

Somehow, he read the question in her eyes, plucking it out of the storm of questions swimming through her head.

"Maybe...maybe we were promised to each other? Love each other?"

She didn't start or blush at his blatantly optimistic tone, instead steeling her gaze with a sparkle of playful challenge.

"But remember, despite smelling us all over each other, you also specifically said you couldn't smell 'that'." she teased, just for the hell of it.

It was his turn to look away with the faintest of blushes on his cheeks.

"Doesn't mean it's never happened..." he admitted, adding, "Just not recently."

She reached up with her right hand to gently hook her index finger under his chin, turning his face to meet her gaze once again, before then giving his right hand a little squeeze from where he still held her left hand against his right leg.

"I don't remember you..." she began, and his ears flattened a little in what he thought was going to be a polite rejection, until she added, "...but despite that, I feel like I've known you forever. Even if I never get my memories back, so long as I can stay with you, then I know I'll be content."

It was too much, all this talk, her gentle touches... Without thinking about any possible consequences of his action Inuyasha leaned forward in that moment and tenderly pressed his lips against Kagome's.

She was startled for a fraction of a second but then before it was over, before he pulled away, she closed her eyes and returned the gentle pressure, kissing him back.

It was over much too soon for the both of them, and blinking her eyes open, Kagome said the first thing that came to mind.

"Did that seem familiar to you?"

Puzzling it over, he answered honestly, "I can't tell, but it sure as hell felt _right_. I think I've been wanting to do that for more than just one day."

Kagome smiled lopsidedly at that. "Same here." she admitted.

"Should we try it again?" he asked, his tone playful and eager but also a tad bit serious as he added, "Maybe we didn't give it enough time for it to seem familiar."

"Only one way to find out..." Kagome answered, fisting Inuyasha's robes with both hands to pull him in for another kiss.


	5. Making new memories

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Chapter 5 – Making new memories...

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As their tongues danced together slowly and sensually one thought and one thought only rang true in both of their minds: they couldn't tell if the kiss really seemed _familiar _or not, which tended to suggest that they hadn't actually done it before, but regardless, it also felt _**right**_**. **Maybe they really had each been wanting to do it for a long time now but for some unexplained reason they hadn't yet been able to. Neither of them worried about the possible and unknown whys for very long, though, as Inuyasha raised up both of his hands, cupping the back of Kagome's head with his right while placing his left on her upper back, pulling her into him even more closely as they continued the kiss. Their mouths occasionally broke apart for brief gulps of air, but those pauses did nothing to shatter the magic of the moment as they jumped right back in for more, Kagome's arms climbing up to wind around Inuyasha's neck as her legs worked themselves out of being tucked within her sleeping bag, as she somehow ended up sitting curled in his lap, the two of them each eagerly trying to mold themselves as close to the other person as physically possible.

Inuyasha was in absolute heaven, the smell of her, the _taste _of her, the feel of her in his arms everything he had imagined it would be and more. The outside world could burst into flame for all he cared and the two of them would remain protected from harm, wrapped in the safety of each other's embrace. Hellfire itself could not rival the heat he felt burning within his blood in that moment, as his body grew more and more excited with every passing second. He needed to have her, _all _of her, tonight, in that room, in that moment; he needed her _now_.

"Kagome..." he moaned between kisses, his mouth trailing lower, attacking her neck.

The miko panted heavily as he found an extra sensitive spot along the side of her throat that sent delicious shivers rushing down her spine when he gently nipped at her fragile skin with his fangs, using _just _enough pressure to tease without causing any harm, soothing the sting with his tongue afterwards. She moaned as well, murmuring "Inuyasha..." in a quiet, breathy voice, and the sound of it was music to his ears.

Kagome could barely think straight, whatever faint wonders and worries about the outside world she had previously had immediately getting tossed to the wayside as she concentrated fully on the sensation of Inuyasha's fangs and tongue tickling her sensitive skin. She could sense his youki increasing in strength a faint amount in his passion, a savage adrenaline rising in his body along with more physical evidence, both of which she could feel as she pressed her aura, and body, against him, but her awareness of his arousal only fueled her own. There were no second guesses, no pauses to consider whether or not they should be doing this or how far they should allow themselves to go. All of a sudden it was as if a dam that had been holding her emotions at bay had ruptured, and as as result she was now pouring all of herself into him; she was fully prepared to receive all of him into herself in return, both emotionally and physically.

The scent of Kagome's arousal hit Inuyasha full force in her nearness, and he groaned, finding that the odor spoke more to his human half than canine side as it didn't make him want to brainlessly hump her like an animal instinctively being driven to mate, although being aware of her body's reaction to his attentions certainly had the man in him wanting her all the more because of it. Reversing the direction of his mouth to bring it back up to her own, only because her pajama top was momentarily preventing further south-bound exploration, he moved both of his hands to cup the sides of her face in that moment as he kissed her with fervor, pouring his desire into her, and she responded by opening her legs to wrap them around his waist, straddling his lap.

The maneuver momentarily gave him an even stronger whiff of her excitement, which had him groaning a second time before he even fully realized what she was doing. As soon as his own arousal came into contact with her pajama covered center it was as if a bolt of electricity shot through them both, and gasping, Inuyasha finally pulled his face away from Kagome's enough to look her in the eyes, although not because he had suddenly decided to second guess anything or give her the chance to back out. Honestly, he wasn't sure if he could stop at that point even if she asked him to. While he would _never _force himself upon her against her will he would definitely have to finish the job himself if she rejected him; there was only one thing that would put out his fire by that point, and as his eyes stared deeply into her own in that moment they didn't ask her if she was sure, seeking permission to take things further. Instead they were reflecting only the silent promise of things to come, bespeaking of his burning need to possess her, and gazing deeply into her stormy blue-gray pools what he found swimming in their depths spoke only of equal passion, equal fire. She didn't _want _him to stop, something she made explicitly clear as she chose that moment to start rocking herself against him, moving her hips in a sinfully delightful rhythm that had both of his hands moving to her waist, helping her movements along.

Kagome's hands shifted from being wrapped behind his neck to grip his shoulders as she rode him, a devilish glint in her eyes revealing her amusement in knowing how her movements affected him. She had been at his mercy moments prior when he'd found her weakness, the sensitivity of her throat, but now it was her turn to turn him into a panting, gasping, quivering puddle of want and need, and she was loving every minute of it.

"D-damn, Woman..." Inuyasha managed to rasp out after a moment, as Kagome got more and more into it, suddenly using his hands on her waist to cease her movements instead of guiding them along. "You tryin' to make me mess myself?" he asked with a lopsided, teasing grin, his voice still a bit strained.

"And what if I am?" she teased back, her voice and eyes issuing a challenge.

He chuckled.

"Kagome..." he began, smiling crookedly at just loving the sound of her name on his tongue. His right hand reached back up and cupped her left cheek, his left hand still on her right hip, his eyes suddenly serious for a brief moment. "You're sure?" he asked her then, figuring the question _did _rightfully need to be voiced, even though the way she immediately smiled back assured him that he'd already known the answer.

Removing her hands from his shoulders and reaching up to remove his right hand from her cheek as well, Kagome sat motionlessly against him for a moment, even though his arousal was still making its presence known. She then answered his question by crossing her arms in front of herself and pulling off her pajama top. His eyes grew large at the sudden appearance of her bare breasts exposed for his viewing pleasure, paying zero attention to the bottle of jewel shards that hung in between them, and it didn't take long at all for his right hand to find its way to her left breast, cupping it and testing its weight, before he was then leaning forward and capturing her right breast with his mouth. She hissed in pleasure at the sensation, tilting her head back and arching her back, pressing her chest more fully into his face, and he responded with gusto, bathing her with his tongue. Switching sides after a moment, he moved his mouth over, giving her left globe the same attention while his left hand raised up to play with her newly neglected right breast. Switching back and forth hungrily and greedily, he kept this up for the next few minutes, trying his best to give each globe equal attention until, as if finally remembering the girl they were connected to, he raised his mouth back up to hers again for another heated lip lock, his hands enjoying the simpler feel of her bare back for the time being as he moved them both to her back to hold her against him as he kissed her passionately, their tongues dueling for dominance.

Thoroughly enjoying his treatment of her, Kagome's own hands did not stay idle for very long, as she brought them up and started fiddling with the ties of his suikan, starting with the little black string that went across his chest over his right shoulder to help hold the extra large, folded flap of fabric in place. For the briefest of moments it amusingly passed through her mind how the act of removing his jacket seemed surprisingly familiar to her, as if she'd actually undressed him before, and she certainly wasn't going to question where her knowledge came from as she found she somehow knew exactly how to remove his rather archaic choice of wardrobe. Come to think of it, everyone in the village was dressed in some type of outdated kimono or another, not a hint of more modern clothing to be found, although she supposed if the whole point was to be _traditional _then things like Western-style pants and button-up shirts wouldn't be a welcomed addition, although thankfully nobody had seemed put off by her school uniform, caring much more about the fact that she'd helped to slay an oni rather than worrying over what she was wearing.

Why was she thinking about the villagers again?

The most important thing to note in this instance was that despite being dressed in modern-day clothing herself she was in fact familiar with Inuyasha's primitive style of dress as well; Kagome wasn't sure why kissing him didn't seem familiar while _undressing _him did, but she certainly wasn't going to argue against the sensation, letting her unconscious knowledge be her guide since her fingers apparently knew exactly what they were doing, allowing her to continue to undress him without breaking away from the kiss.

Untying the little black string to hang loosely over his shoulder, Kagome next worked on untying his thin obi, her hands quickly joined by his as he helped her undo the knot until the red belt came loose as well and his suikan slackened, although the outer robe still mostly kept its shape from how it was still tucked within his hakama. Breaking apart from the kiss, then, Kagome smirked and offered him a playful wink as she worked her hands into his red jacket, yanking it out from where it was tucked within his matching trousers and almost frantically pulling the sides apart to expose the white kosode he wore underneath. He chuckled at her eagerness to undress him and let her do the honors, enjoying the view of her chest in the meantime.

Pulling his suikan open with such playful gusto inadvertently brought Kagome's attention to his rosary necklace, the beads rattling and clicking together a little as they dropped down against his kosode, and so without really giving the matter much thought she reached for the kotodama in that moment as a result, the goal in her mind simply to render her partner completely void of any form of covering whatsoever. If it was _on_ him, she wanted it _off_, simple as that.

Kissing him passionately for a moment longer, the miko then pulled back and made the move to lift the beaded necklace up and over his head, Inuyasha offering her no resistance, the hanyou never having given the beads much more than a passing thought himself until they both suddenly got the surprise of their lifetime when an unexpected magical force manifested itself out of nowhere, physically preventing the necklace from passing past his chin.

Shocked, at least mentally, Kagome dropped the beads as if they had shocked her physically as well although thankfully the force-field that had appeared around them had not in actuality been painful in any way. That didn't stop her from squeaking in surprise, though, as she blurted out a quietly murmured "What the hell?" before reaching for the beads a second time. She was prepared for the resistance that time and actually tried to fight against it, narrowing her eyes at the beads for daring to defy her even though it was no use; the rosary refused to budge.

Inuyasha, meanwhile, was just as surprised as Kagome had initially been, although he got over his shock quickly enough to find amusement in Kagome's frustrated facial expression and quiet curses. Finally, he lifted both of his hands up to cup hers, encouraging her to drop the stubborn necklace back in place with a playful call of her name.

"Kagome..." he said with a chuckle in his voice, and with her eyes meeting his she released the beads, allowing him to pin her hands against his kosode-clad chest a few inches lower than where the kotodama hung as he gazed into her eyes with an amused sparkle dancing in his own golden amber depths.

"It's just so weird." she spoke up, her tone of voice confused. "The beads are magically bound to you, but why? What do they do?"

He shrugged his shoulders the best he could while holding her hands against his chest.

"Who knows?" he questioned rhetorically, since obviously they wouldn't learn the rosary's purpose until after getting their memories back, or at the very least catching up to their friends. "But if the beads wanna stay on so damn bad then just leave 'em be; I'm sure my kosode won't put up as much of a fight." he added with a wink, and Kagome laughed at that.

Brazenly, she removed her hands from where he held them against his chest and slid them lower, pressing them down and in between their bodies to grasp him intimately through his pants.

"Or your hakama." she spoke up with a seductive purr, and he made a strangled sound that was like a cross between a moan and a growl.

The next thing Kagome knew she was lying flat on her back across her spread out sleeping bag, Inuyasha's body lying possessively over her. He'd somehow managed to shrug out of his opened suikan as well during the maneuver, and as his lips crashed down over hers once again Kagome's hands quickly resumed their previous activity from before getting sidetracked by his mystery-necklace, as she fiddled with the ties of his kosode until that robe came loose as well. Yanking it out from where it was tucked within his hakama she then started sliding the fabric down his shoulders and arms, and wordlessly he complied with her silent request, taking the briefest of moments to devoid himself of the white under robe before quickly getting back to the business of kissing her senseless, enjoying the sensation of rubbing their bare chests together, skin on skin.

Gently, teasingly, Inuyasha rocked his hips against the miko's, rubbing their pelvic regions together though not to the intensity she had previously used when she'd been rocking his lap. Now that he was the one in control he could set the tempo to something that wouldn't make him risk finishing before they'd even begun, and he absolutely loved the way she moaned and gasped as he pressed himself against her, wiggling his hips slightly from side to side.

Lifting himself up a little bit with his hands pressed flatly on the ground at either side of her head, he raised his upper body up enough in a push-up type of manner to gaze passionately down into her eyes while leaving their lower regions still pressed against each other, his smile revealing his fangs although the expression was much more genuine and less of a smirk than any smile she'd seen him wear thus far.

"You are so fucking beautiful." he said, and despite the crude choice of language her heart soared at his words, as if she'd been waiting to hear them all her life.

"I think...I think I love you..." she confessed then, unhesitant at that point to admit such a thing out loud.

His smile only widened all the more, if that were even possible, as his eyes sparkled with his unbridled happiness. Yes, he was as horny as all get out and he wanted to make love to her, but that was exactly the point, he'd realized that he thought of it as _making love_, not fucking or banging or boinking or even mating. He most definitely wanted to have sex with her but he didn't want to _just _have sex with her; something buried deep down in his very soul told him that this was a special moment, an _important _moment, and something that he would not regret once he got his memories back, although making her feel _used_...now **that** he would regret, and it was absolutely out of the question.

"I think you're right..." he answered her playfully then, adding quickly, "...and you know what else? I think I _know _that I love you, too."

It was Kagome's turn to smile with a look of pure elation.

Inuyasha continued.

"I got no idea why we've never _been _together before, and hell, maybe we have but it's just been a while, maybe 'cause of the whole 'youkai trying to kill us' thing out in the woods 'n' whatever, but I just want you to know, even though I'm _very _horny for you right now, I ain't just thinkin' with my dick."

Kagome giggled at the way he stressed being _very _horny, the evidence of which was still pressed snugly against her pajama-covered center. She wiggled her hips a little, causing a light chuckle to escape the hanyou as he wiggled back. Then it was Kagome's turn to speak.

"Nothing wrong with thinking with your dick _some_times, so long as your head and heart are also paying attention and are in full agreement." she replied with a sultry edge to her voice, surprising the hanyou with her mild use of vulgar language. Laughing at his playfully startled eyes, she continued. "It's obvious what _he _wants..." she stressed, giving her hips a little bounce, "...so since both of our hearts and minds also agree I say we _give _him what he wants."

"I won't argue with that." Inuyasha answered in a soothing, caring tone of voice, before slowly lowering himself down to lightly peck her lips with a chaste kiss before next planting a kiss on her chin, the side of her neck, collar bone and then between her breasts, as he shimmied himself down along the length of her body, continuing to plant little chaste kisses in his wake as he went further south.

Kagome squirmed below him as he worked, a small part of nervous although a much larger part of her was eagerly anticipating whatever was to come as he made her giggle slightly with the tickling way his tongue teased her bellybutton before he hooked his thumbs into the waistband of her pajama bottoms and started to gently pull them down her legs. Cooperating, Kagome raised her hips, allowing him to pull the fuzzy pants all of the way down and off, leaving her clad only in her white cotton panties. Kneeling at the edge of the sleeping bag, then, Inuyasha started fiddling with the ties to his hakama, and his hands were quickly joined by the miko's when Kagome sat up and silently offered her assistance, just as eager to rid him of the rest of his clothing as he was.

Releasing the final knot, Kagome pulled Inuyasha's hands away from his pants' ties and brought them back up to her chest, encouraging his fingers to mold and squeeze. Gravity easily finished the job for them as his loosened hakama fell to his knees with a near silent swoosh of fabric, and gazing hungrily up into his eyes, Kagome started lowering herself to lie back down against the sleeping bag again. Wordlessly, he followed suit, letting her guide his descent by the way she still held his hands cupped against her breasts, and once he was once again lying flush against her it just took some mild readjusting of his legs for him to kick his hakama the rest of the way off, leaving him clad only in his white linen fundoshi.

Settling his legs to rest in between Kagome's, he moaned in pleasure into their latest kiss as she opened her legs to better receive him, the position so much more intimate without the added covering of their pants getting in the way as even the simple feel of their bare legs rubbing together heightened his level of excitement. It didn't put him into a frenzied state, though, this latest kiss slow and sensual with their tongues and lips lazily becoming fully acquainted with one another. At one point Kagome's tongue broke away from dueling with his own to tentatively examine the feel and sharpness of his fangs, and he let her explore that demonic side of him without worry when not even the faintest trace of trepidation leaked into her scent as a result. That she was okay with his demonic characteristics, that she wasn't bothered by them, that really meant a lot to him, to know that this human girl, this _miko _was willing and _wanting _to be intimate with him. Even though he couldn't remember anything about his own life, or his female companion in particular, he still knew a little bit about how the world worked, just generally speaking. He knew that birds flew and fish swam, that snow fell in the winter and that spiritual humans were designed to _fight _beings with demonic powers. And in fact it was true that Kagome battled youkai, having that whole destiny of needing to keep the shards pure and out of the hands of evil and all of that, so apparently _he _was the odd one out, a hanyou working along side her, fighting off _other _youkai, but so long as the fact that he was half youkai himself didn't bother her then he wouldn't worry about it either.

The fact of the matter was that Kagome was not bothered by him being half youkai in the slightest, and especially not right now, while there were so many other more important things to think about, like how absolutely wonderful it felt to have his body lying possessively over her own as he kissed her senseless. She wasn't worried about his fangs, or his claws, the occasional press of a talon noticeable against her delicate human skin although he never used enough pressure to actually harm her. His fangs and claws, they were simply a part of who he was, and since she wasn't afraid of _him _she wouldn't be afraid of those parts of him, either. Something in her heart assured her that he would never, could never hurt her. The whole youkai/miko thing was honestly the furthest thought from her mind. It simply felt too right to be wrong, and all her heart was telling her was that she was so incredibly happy to be there with him, like that. Apparently she had wanted it for quite some time now, and so now that it was actually happening she planned on enjoying it to the fullest. She was sure that once they eventually got their memories back that they'd still remember everything that'd happened to them now, while under this spell, and she was sure that this moment, this night, would be a memory that she'd treasure forever.

Shifting himself a little off to the side after a moment, Inuyasha broke away from their latest kiss as he propped himself up on his right, laying on his right hip on the sleeping bag with his left leg bent and still resting in between Kagome's own legs. Slowly, he moved his leg up and down a little, teasing her. He was more or less straddling her left hip in the process, although he made no move to thrust against her like a horny dog randomly humping whatever body part was available to him. Instead, with his upper body propped upright slightly on his right arm that was bent at the elbow, his arm from elbow to wrist resting on the ground beside Kagome's head, Inuyasha delicately ran a teasing line down her body with the index finer of his left hand, simply cherishing the feel, and appearance, of her naked flesh. Of course, she wasn't fully naked just yet, but he'd rectify that situation soon enough. In the mean time he was enjoying delicately running his fingertip up and down her body. She smirked up at him, clearly amused by his playful inspection of her body, and the fact that she was clearly not nervous about his claws dancing across such delicate skin really touched his heart.

He shifted the position of his right hand to reach for and cup the top of her head, tangling his fingers in her silky raven locks.

"Kami...I really do love you..." he murmured quietly, his tone of voice almost suggesting he was in awe of that realization. "I must. This...this feeling...there's just no other way to describe what it's like for me to have you here like this. I want you so badly."

Gently, he used the index finger of his left hand to hook her chin and tilt her face into yet another kiss, one she fully welcomed, raising her right hand up to grasp his left and pin it against her stomach.

"Then have me." she murmured when he pulled back from the kiss, and the familiar smirk she'd come to expect and love to see on those beautiful lips of his suddenly returned in that moment with a vengeance.

"Your wish is my command." he purred suggestively, shifting his left leg back and forth again to tease her a second time, which earned him another moan from the girl.

Moving his leg out of the way, then, Inuyasha pulled his left hand out from where she'd been lightly holding it against her stomach, immediately dancing his fingertips in a delicate, teasing fashion along the elastic band of her panties before slowly but surely drifting lower, to the area of fabric that smelled the strongest of her scent. Pressing down a bit harder with the pads of his fingers in that area, Kagome moaned again, wiggling her hips a little as her eyes drifted closed and her head tilted to the side, towards her left, closer to Inuyasha who still had his right hand brushing through her hair. Shifting himself even closer to the miko, he kissed her forehead before pillowing her head on his right arm and chest, bending that arm as he semi-cradled her upper body in a half embrace while continuing to lightly poke and prod at her down below with the fingers of his left hand. His body was _screaming _at him to take her by that point, but he could wait a little while longer, telling that part of himself to shut up while he enjoyed observing Kagome's various reactions to the different ways he touched her. Fully cupping her warmth, she moaned throatily, in tones that sounded suspiciously like his name, and then he started a distinctive rhythm, loving the feel of touching her even through the layer of cloth although he was definitely looking forward to removing that last article of clothing from her body.

_In a minute_ ... he told himself, mildly worried in the back of his mind of the possibility of accidentally harming her so very delicate flesh in that region with a claw. Even though he knew she wasn't afraid he figured it was better to touch her like this, over her underwear, just to be on the safe side.

Or so he thought, at least, until his left hand was unexpectedly joined by Kagome's right. Glancing up at her face revealed to him that her eyes were still closed, but she'd taken a hold of his left hand and was bringing his fingers back up to the top edge of her panties, in an attempt to show him that it was perfectly all right with her if he touched her _underneath _them. Something she made explicitly clear without words as she guided his fingers to do just that, pulling his hand down the first couple of inches before retracted her own hand and letting him take the lead once she knew she'd gotten her point across. It was obvious what she wanted, so taking a deep breath he slowly, and very carefully, slid his hand further down below her final covering, encountering a heat he couldn't possibly have anticipated. Being half youkai he was completely unbothered by turning the logs in their fire with his bare hands, and yet _she _was almost too hot to touch, burning him in a way that left blisters on his heart and soul rather than his flesh. He knew what would sooth that ache, but first, he also knew that Kagome was aching as well, burning for him just as strongly, and he would help her to put out that fire, first, even as it stoked his own.

"Inuyasha..." she gasped out in a cross between a whisper and a groan, her eyes still closed as her head rocked lightly back and forth from side to side.

He had gone for it, and as he pleasured her he was absolutely enthralled by the way her body shook and jerked at random, her hips gyrating in a way that suggested she wanted to feel even _more_ from him, and more _of _him.

"Inuyasha, please..." she moaned then, her eyes blinking open to meet his own, her expression almost begging.

He smirked again.

"Please what?" he asked with a teasing edge in his voice and eyes.

Instead of answering, Kagome reached down with both hands and started tugging down her panties.

Not about to complain about _that _Inuyasha temporarily paused in what he was doing to assist her, dragging her last covering down her legs to discard in the same general area as the rest of their clothing, and then as soon as the panties were off his fingers were back with a vengeance, the hanyou proving his ambidextrous ability to please since the girl below him certainly wasn't complaining either. In fact, Kagome was fairly incoherent at the moment, although what wits she did still have about her she used to reach across herself with her right hand and grasp his fundoshi-clad arousal. He groaned at the contact, faltering in what he was doing for a moment before quickly redoubling his efforts to bring _her _pleasure, trying his best to ignore the way she was massaging his most sensitive area. A task she was making none too easy as she met his eyes with a knowing smirk shimmering in her own stormy blue-gray pools.

His hips developed a mind of their own as he began rocking against her hand, keeping his tempo in synch with what _his_ hand was doing as the only way he could keep his mind focused enough on the woman beside him and not on the wonderful sensations tingling throughout his nervous system, and then just when he was getting the hang of it Kagome went and upped the ante, snaking her hand _underneath _the fabric of his fundoshi. He shuddered at the sensation, fumbling for a moment as he lost his coordination while the miko giggled quietly at the thought of him almost literally being putty in her hands. Inuyasha of course was unaware of what she'd found so amusing since she didn't voice her thoughts aloud, although the simple fact that she was amused in turn amused him as well. Sex was supposed to be _fun_, after all, and he couldn't help but notice how she seemed unperturbed by the fact that her own actions were hindering the pleasure she'd been receiving, as she started stroking him even harder every time he faulted, as if the two of them were suddenly engaged in a game of who could out pleasure whom and whoever became so far gone that they could no longer focus on what they were doing to their partner would be the loser.

Smirking, and not about to be undone, he held Kagome's gaze as he shifted his hand and took the plunge, literally. She gasped, suddenly releasing him as her head flopped back, and for the briefest of seconds Inuyasha actually feared that he might have hurt her although before he could even ask her if she was okay she started rocking her hips. He grinned triumphantly then, a smug expression Kagome didn't see because she was too busy seeing stars behind her closed eyelids.

_I win_ ... he thought playfully, _In more ways than one_...

After all, being allowed to touch the miko in such an intimate way was another victory in and of itself, even if he had no conscious recollection of just how long it'd been since he'd first started fantasizing about it.

Slowly, carefully, Inuyasha built up his tempo, his own body protesting the lack of her touch although he did his best to ignore his needs for a few minutes longer. He'd get his pleasure; right now he was too busy finding a whole different type of pleasure in delivering Kagome her own. Leaning over her body, he reclaimed her left breast with his tongue, and she gasped again at the duel stimulation, arching her back while gyrating her hips at the same time, her body language screaming at him to give her more of what he was giving her. He eagerly complied.

_Kami, I love the way she tastes_ ... he thought absently as he continued his oral ministrations, licking all over before going back up to the sensitive spot on her neck he'd discovered earlier. She responded by tilting her head, granting him better access to her throat, and the animalistic side of him rumbled approvingly at the sight before he promptly got to work creating what was sure to be one hell of a hickey in the morning.

His left hand stayed plenty active, especially since he was finally able to concentrate on what he was doing without the distraction of _her _talented fingers messing him up. He was so into what he was doing that it didn't even occur to him to think about whether or not the act of pleasuring her in such a way seemed familiar to him at all. He seemed to instinctively know what to do, but he didn't really ponder the hows or whys, chalking it up to a combination of common knowledge and being able to gauge her reactions, his nose playing a significant role in the latter. It was easy to know what she liked when she smelled so strongly of _liking _it, that smell translating into taste as he continued to bathe her skin with his tongue. A taste he knew could become habit forming very easily. She was a delicacy that he would never get tired of sampling, over and over again.

Of course, the passing thought of how good she actually tasted had a nasty little part of the back of his mind whispering to him after a moment, wondering if she would taste just as good as she smelled in certain _other _places. It really wouldn't be too difficult to get his answer, and so telling himself that it was just innocent curiosity, although the 'innocent' part was honestly debatable, he slowly made his way back down away from her neck in that moment, his mouth traveling lower, which then made the goal of quickly licking his fingers in between switching up what said fingers were doing much easier to accomplish without the miko noticing. For some reason he feared that she might think it disgusting of him, just a tad _too_ dog-like. It was a legitimate worry as far as he was concerned, but by the gods, the taste of her... She tasted even _better _than she smelled and he couldn't help it, he wanted more!

Trying not to worry about the consequences, Inuyasha wasn't 100% lost to his passion in that moment although he was pretty damn close, as he started kissing his way back down her body again, like he'd done when he'd moved to pull off her pajama bottoms earlier. He didn't want to ask first and risk grossing her out, figuring she'd tell him to stop if she didn't like it and hoping that maybe, just maybe, if he made her _really _like it then it wouldn't even occur to her how dog-like she was letting him be with her as she allowed herself to enjoy it. After all, she _had _said that she loved him, hadn't she? And hadn't she also said that she found him handsome, _especially _withhis canine ears? And his claws and fangs certainly weren't an issue, so then maybe she was totally cool with all the weird little quirks he had because of his inu-youkai half and he was worrying about nothing. There was only one way to find out...

Kagome let out a combination squeak and gasp of surprise as Inuyasha suddenly went for broke, repositioning himself for better access as he stretched out on his belly. Whatever lingering trace of awareness he'd managed to hang onto until that point was instantly lost as he went to town like the dog he was, his worries erased, although thankfully Kagome didn't seem to have any complaints, anyway. In fact, it was clear that the opposite was true as she bit her bottom lip to keep from shouting out too loudly just how much she was enjoying his treatment of her. Focusing his attention on her reactions, he always sensed when she was getting close and immediately shifted what he was doing in order to keep her hanging from the edge just that much longer before letting her topple over into the abyss of mindless pleasure that would be her orgasm when he finally allowed it to happen.

Languidly, he rocked his hips as lied stretched out on the floor, the mild pleasure enough to keep the fire roaring in his veins while being nowhere near satisfying enough to risk extinguishing it. He would take his satisfaction only after he had delivered the miko's, and only within her body.

"Inu...Inu-ya...sha...oh...I'm...oh pl-please...so close..." she begged quietly, both loving and hating the way he was keeping her suspended above the precipice.

Hearing her say his name _like that_...even though he only knew it was his name because he had been told it was, her quiet begging was enough to send shoots of tingles racing down his spine, and finally, he could no longer take it. He would grant them _both _release.

Building her back up again took no time at all, and as the miko frantically started whispering "Don't stop! Don't stop!" he obeyed her frenzied command, continuing on with precisely what he was doing.

Desperately, Kagome was almost to the point of tears, as her head shook from side to side, her hips quivering. She was _right there _but just not...quite...

"Ahhmmmmmmm...!" she scream/moaned as her climax hit her full force, throwing her left arm over her mouth and clamping down halfway between elbow and wrist to gag herself in a desperate attempt at not shouting out _too _loudly and potentially worrying (or scandalizing) any villagers within earshot.

Inuyasha greedily rode out her turbulence until her faint, panting whisper of "N-no m-more..." reached his ears, as she tried to shift her nether region away from him, and he immediately complied and raised himself up on hands and knees then, crawling forward and over her body. He was still wearing his fundoshi, but that was an inconvenience easily remedied as he shifted his body weight onto his left hand and effortlessly tore his final covering away from himself with his right. Kagome lazily raised her head enough to glance down herself and spy his naked perfection as he did so, and seeing the way her gorgeous hanyou companion was holding himself suspended above her in all his naked glory as he prepared to join with her only substantiated for the miko the fact that she loved him. Before she'd lost her memories, she'd loved him. For all intents and purposes he was a stranger to her right now and yet as she watched him naked above her, smiling down at her with a look of pure joy rather than anything akin to perverted triumph, she still felt nothing but welcoming happiness in her heart as she longed to complete their joining.

Having no intention of postponing what they both truly wanted even one second longer Inuyasha immediately reached for himself with his right hand, still holding his upper body raised up with his left which was not a problem for him with his demonic strength, and then aligning himself he slowly started to press forward, murmuring a softly spoken "Let me know if you need me to stop." as he kept his pace slow but steady.

Biting her lower lip, Kagome nodded her understanding, breathing heavily through her nose as she accepted all of him into her body. It stung and burned, a little bit, but it was not truly _painful _and so trying her best to relax and not tense up Kagome remained silent, allowing her lover to complete their merger until they were one. They both immediately had the answer to the lingering question of whether or not they'd ever done this before, since they both believed in that moment that she had to have been a virgin, but even with the newfound confirmation that this _was _their first time – which they had both admittedly already thought was a good possibility – neither of them regretted having made the decision to go forward with it. Neither of them could think of any reason other than a lack of opportunity to explain why they'd not yet physically expressed the emotions they both _knew_ were there, and so despite the drama of currently being in the dark regarding their life stories they were also both equally grateful for the way fate had gifted them with this cabin for the night. Yes it was sad that the previous owner had perished, but that was not their doing and it was most certainly the will of the gods that they had found their way back to this village, which was full of friendly people who had in fact been able to give them at least _some _information about themselves. And having learned that they apparently usually traveled with two other humans and two small youkai, it was truly no wonder why they hadn't yet had the time to articulate their feelings for one another in such an intimate way, since being in the presence of four other companions probably didn't leave much in the way of privacy on a nightly basis. Add their mission to collect and purify jewel shards into the mix, fighting random youkai here and there as they went along, and their lack of quality alone time truly became no mystery at all.

And speaking of jewel shards, Inuyasha absently noticed the little glass bottle he'd honestly forgotten all about until that moment as he lowered himself fully to Kagome's body, pressing the two of them flush together, skin on skin, as he hugged her to him, simply enjoying the sensation of being _one _with her. As she hooked her legs around his own and her arms wound up around him, hugging him back, the bottle of shards she wore was pressed in between their chests, along with his kotodama, but he didn't care. He wasn't paying the shards any attention at all and neither did they seem to be paying _him _any attention as the shards remained completely pure, ignoring the fact that they were in indirect physical contact with his body, separated only by the glass of her bottle no differently than when he'd grabbed it in his hand and they'd started to taint. True, they were also still in contact with Kagome's skin through the glass, unlike how she'd previously held the bottle by the cord, and it was possible that that had something to do with it, but Inuyasha tended to think that it actually had more to do with the fact that he'd since made the decision to _not _let them tap into his youki, and as he gazed lovingly into Kagome's stormy eyes in that moment, his own golden pools easily bespeaking of how utterly happy he was, he found absolutely nothing tempting about those stupid shards whatsoever.

It didn't occur to either of them that there had supposedly been the possibility of Kagome losing her ability to keep them pure. Even though neither of them consciously knew it, her spiritual purity came from her heart; purity of the flesh was irrelevant. _Some _miko might lose their powers after sexual intercourse, probably because they had psyched themselves up into _thinking _that they would and their own thoughts manifested it into truth, but since Kagome had never been raised to think that way in the first place there were no whispered memories of some forgotten lesson to plague her mind with doubts as she and her demonic lover came together. As Inuyasha slowly began to move his hips, his eyes closing as a tremendous wave of pleasure crashed through him and made him shudder, Kagome's only thoughts revolved around how unbelievably happy she was.

She felt loved.

She would make sure that he felt loved as well.

As Inuyasha retracted his hips a second time Kagome rocked her body in time with his on the descent, and he hissed, a shudder traveling down his spine as he pinched his eyes tightly closed. Not only was Kagome a virgin, but it was pretty clear to Inuyasha in that moment that he was, too. Either that, or any random woman he might have previously been with prior to meeting the miko had simply been _horrible _in comparison to Kagome's unparalleled perfection. The sensation of being one with her was so intense that he could hardly move. He somehow instinctively knew what it felt like to be ready to peak and regretfully he was already almost there. Trying to breathe through his nose to calm his nerves backfired when all he could smell was Kagome's taste on his tongue, and suddenly, he was kissing her again, hungrily, not caring what her reaction might be to tasting herself in his kiss.

Kagome of course had no objections as she eagerly returned his kiss with equal passion, her body still singing from the lingering waves of euphoria that occasionally washed through her, their joining keeping her pleasured body on high alert, unable to fully come down. Moaning into their kiss as Inuyasha rocked against her yet again, their tongues never pausing in the battle for dominance, what little discomfort there had been for the miko at first was quickly starting to melt away. As he continued to move limpid pleasure rose up from her core to spread out along every nerve in her body. Still, Kagome had already had her release, and even with as gratifying as their dance was to her she knew that her partner had not yet experienced the same intensity of pleasure that he had gifted her with, and she wanted him to reach that level; she wanted to feel him find his fulfillment within her, and know that it was because of _her _that he had experienced such bliss.

"Faster..." she managed to get out between kisses, her voice breathy and desperate.

"Are you sure?" he asked her softly, lifting his upper body enough to look her in the eyes. "I don't want to hurt you."

She met his eyes with a look of resolve mixed with love that had his heart thumping loudly in his chest.

"You could never hurt me." she stated devoid of uncertainty, then moving both hands to the beaded necklaces he wore she fisted it and yanked him down into yet another kiss while thrusting her hips up at the same time, her legs still wrapped around him.

He moaned into the kiss, but then pulled back again after a moment, the smirk in his eyes causing a sparkle of amusement to dance in her own as she wondered what he was up to.

"Lower your legs." he commanded softly and she obeyed, and then he raised himself up a little bit again, Kagome releasing his kotodama to let him.

Then, one by one, he gently reached back for Kagome's legs and brought them forward, hooking them up and over his shoulders. They both shuddered at the sensation such a small yet colossal change in position caused to rush through their bodies, and then slowly Inuyasha began moving again. Kagome gasped, and he paused, the silent look of concern in his eyes asking her if she was okay, which she answered by rocking herself the best she could in that position in a silent plea for him to _get moving_. Chuckling then, Inuyasha complied, slowly but surely building up his tempo. He still could not move as steadily as he would like, needing to stop after every few seconds as his body shook, but then pinching his eyes shut and biting his lower lip he would move again, faster and faster each time, until he was almost slamming forward but then pausing to hold in his explosion before repeating the move. Each plunge forward sent shards of residual pleasure ricocheting throughout Kagome's body, and it quickly got to the point where she could no longer rock herself in time with his thrusts, doing little more than holding on for the ride as he started moving at his fastest pace yet.

He knew he couldn't last very long like that.

The pleasure had finally gotten to the point where he simply couldn't take it, and so losing himself before he'd actually lost himself, he had a brief moment of realizing _I can't take it any more! _before quickly saying to hell with it and rocketing his hips as fast as he dared without risking physical harm to his human lover. His release raced through his body faster than he could blink, his nerve endings screaming their joy as his body seized, and then he exploded with a strangled groan escaping his throat that probably would have been a howl had he not consciously tried to stifle the sound.

Kagome felt it as he lost himself within her, and for the briefest of moments the worry of pregnancy flashed through her mind – though only because of their mission to collect and purify the jewel shards and not because of any doubts regarding their feelings for one another or their ability to be parents – but she quickly brushed those mild concerns aside, understanding that it was honestly too late to worry about it now and that whatever happened they would deal with it together.

Panting heavily, Inuyasha grunted, and then letting Kagome's legs fall away from his shoulders, her heels hitting the ground with light thumps, he more or less collapsed against her, nuzzling his face in the crook of her neck on her left side as aftershocks of pleasure from shifting their positions made him shiver with delight. They stayed like that for several minutes, Inuyasha trying to even out his breathing as he lied stretched out on top of Kagome, the miko lazily drawing patterns on his back with the tip of her right index finger while her left hand tenderly rubbed his left ear, her arm wrapped loosely around the back of his head from where he still nuzzled the left side of her throat. Finally, he lifted his head enough to smile down at her, their love communicated back and forth silently through the knowing looks in their eyes before he kissed her tenderly. A bit regretfully, then, because he didn't want to leave her warm embrace, he slowly lifted himself away from her, until their bodies separated and he was able to plop himself down beside her, pulling her into his arms.

"Even if we don't ever get our memories back, I know one thing..." he murmured quietly after a moment, resting his chin on the top of her head as they held their arms wrapped around each other. "I know that we belong together, you 'n' me." he finished, giving her body a little squeeze.

Kagome gave Inuyasha a little squeeze in return.

"Definitely..." she agreed without hesitation. "No matter what tomorrow brings, or the next day, or the next, we're in this together."

That said, Kagome reached out and fiddled with the sleeping bag, Inuyasha catching on and offering his assistance with getting the two of them tucked within the bag. It was a tight fit, the bag not really meant for more than one person, but neither of them found it uncomfortable to be held so closely together, as Kagome and Inuyasha both rolled over onto their right sides so that he could wrap himself around her in a spooning embrace. Their fire was dwindling but neither of them felt like getting up to replenish the wood, and so this way they could let the fire die out and they would keep each other warm with their body heat instead. Maybe some people couldn't sleep if they were all snuggled up against another person like that, but Kagome actually found it quite cozy, and sooner than she would've expected sleep started to creep up on her, though even as she felt all the muscles in her body totally relax she wasn't quite nodding off to dreamland just yet.

Reaching for Inuyasha's left hand where it rested against her stomach she pulled it up to cup her left breast, smiling when she felt him chuckle behind her before he gave her breast a little squeeze.

"You wanna go again?" he asked her playfully, his body calm and sated even though the miko imagined she could get him going again without too much effort were she actually interested.

"Just didn't want you thinking certain parts of me were off limits now that the excitement's over." she replied, her tone of voice playful as well.

Inuyasha had thought it'd gone unnoticed how he'd almost reached up to cup her breast before hesitating and deciding on resting his hand on her stomach instead.

_Sneaky wench_ ... he chuckled in his mind. He gave her breast another squeeze.

"Good to know." he answered with a teasing edge, the rest of his body still calm and content and not growing more excited again by the intimate contact.

There was something almost...soothing...about being allowed to just hold her but in such an intimate way. He was almost guaranteed to have one of 'those' types of dreams, now, but the prospect no longer embarrassed him, since he obviously didn't have to worry about what Kagome's reaction would be. With that last thought in mind, he let himself start to drift off as well, his left ear still flicking to the occasional odd sound here and there though he still could detect no sign of any potential threat in the area. They were safe, and with that knowledge he finally allowed the sensation of sleep to consume him.

Kagome was amazed a few minutes later when she realized that Inuyasha had actually nodded off before her, although she imagined he had to be terribly exhausted since he hadn't slept at all the night before, and who knew how long he'd actually gone without sleep? Since learning that they had separated from their friends to destroy the oni that had been attacking this village two days ago, Kagome felt it safe to assume that at the very least he had stayed awake that night as well, as the two of them had undoubtedly camped out in the forest alone, obviously in that place they'd come across during their return journey back to this village today. So that meant that he'd gone without any sleep at all for at _least _two nights in a row. Youkai strength or no youkai strength, she could only imagine that he was dead tired, especially after having to fight that oni, and she didn't even _know _how stressing that battle had been, and then there'd been that tengu, not to mention all the other random little youkai that might not have been too difficult to kill but had still required the use of him expelling some of his youki in order to conjure up the attacks necessary to kill them. And then on top of everything he'd probably exerted whatever energy he'd had left over the last few minutes, as they'd engaged in rather pleasurable,albeit tiring activities. It was no wonder he'd fallen asleep so fast, when you really thought about it, and Kagome took it as a compliment, that she'd actually tired him out.

She blushed mildly as her thoughts took her back to their oh-so-recent joining, not one single shroud of regret clouding her mind. She felt content, and loved, and ready to face whatever tomorrow brought their way. She also felt quite exhausted, and so very comfortable in her partner's warm embrace, his even breathing against her neck rhythmic and soothing rather than annoying in any way. It didn't take very long at all for the miko to follow her hanyou lover into slumber, and the peaceful expressions they both wore as they slept would have even the most prejudice of outside observers reluctantly acknowledging that their love for each other was real, whether or not they approved being irrelevant. No one and nothing could dispute the validity and strength of the hanyou and miko's feelings for one another. Only time would tell if they ever regained their lost memories, but in the meantime the two would go forward with their lives together, creating new memories to cherish always.


	6. Journey's End

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Chapter 6 – Journey's End

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Inuyasha regained consciousness in phases, his dream so delightful that he didn't want to leave it, imagining that he held the naked Kagome securely in his arms. It took him a moment to realize that it wasn't a dream, and that while he _had _dreamt of making love to the miko that was only because it'd been a reprise of events that had actually happened the night before. Coming fully awake, then, he stifled a groan as his morning excitement made itself known in that moment, pinned as it was between their bodies. He tried not to move, wanting so badly to rub himself against her but wanting even more badly to not wake her up, not because he was worried about what her reaction would be to discovering just how 'excited' he was to be lying with her like that, but more simply because he wasn't ready to give it up yet. The sensation of holding her in his arms like that was just so pleasant, this moment in time so perfect, that a part of him wished he could cherish it forever. Especially since his left hand had managed to keep purchase of her breast throughout the night; even in unconsciousness his body apparently knew a good thing when he had it and hadn't been about to do something stupid like make himself shift in his sleep and lose claim of his treasure.

Inuyasha didn't know that he'd trained his body long ago to hold perfectly still while he slept so as not to risk falling out of his tree perch or give his position away to a potential predator. Such negative types of thoughts were the farthest thing from his mind in that moment as he inhaled slowly and deeply through his nose, relishing in their combined scents, the lingering perfume of their joining still clinging to their bodies. He could smell his seed still _within _the miko, and that was a truly satisfying odor, indeed. He wasn't worried about an unintentional conception since he could also tell from her scent that her fertile time for this lunar cycle had already come and gone, her body not presently in the right phase to make a baby. He couldn't really explain _how _he knew that; it was just something that he automatically knew and he assumed it was because he'd gotten used to her changing scents over the span of time they'd known each other, and so subconsciously he still had the ability to recognize what her current scent was telling him despite the spell he was under because prior to losing his memories identifying her body's cycle had become second nature to his nose. Her scent to his nose was like the phases of the moon, and just as a simple glance up at the moon in the sky would immediately tell anyone with working eyes and comprehension of the lunar phases where the moon was in its cycle, so too was her cycle that clear and obvious to his nose.

Had she been fertile last night he would have forced them both to stop before going all the way, not that the idea of having a baby with her was a scary or bad thought but it was rightfully an irresponsible one while they didn't know anything about themselves, or more importantly the true depth of this mission they were apparently on to collect and purify all the shards of this shattered 'sacred jewel', whatever the hell _that _was. He didn't give a rat's ass about the jewel or what it could or couldn't do for whoever possessed it, although he did agree that it wouldn't be a good idea, for _everyone's _well being, to let such a thing fall into the hands of an evil youkai, like that tengu. Why it had to be _their _responsibility he still had no idea, although he did know that it didn't really matter because regardless of why or how it _was _Kagome's job to collect and purify those shards, and it was _his _job to protect _her_, and so wherever Kagome went he would follow, simple as that. It just wouldn't be a very good idea to bring a baby along for the ride. Maybe...one day...after they had the entire Shikon no Tama put back together again and had figured out what the hell to do with it after that so that it'd no longer be a threat to anyone...

His lips curled up into a playful smile at the thought, imagining that the miko would be an excellent mother. He could see her holding a baby in her arms, a child that looked human at first glance, with a full head of raven hair, until upon closer examination little puppy ears would be spotted peaking out from the top of the baby's head.

He knew he was getting _way _too ahead of himself entertaining _those _kinds of fantasies, but that was really all it was, a fantasy, and there was no harm in daydreaming about what might _one day_ come true in the far off, distant future, right?

Right.

So with that last thought in mind Inuyasha took another deep breath, enjoying once again the combined fragrance of their recent joining. Hopefully the strongest aspects of the smell would linger for at least a few days; if the stubborn wench wanted to bathe then that would surely wash it away much sooner.

_Where the hell did __that__ come from? _

Inuyasha frowned to himself as the random thought of being perturbed by her wanting to bathe came to mind, the sensation so out of the blue that he couldn't even describe it, nor could he quite latch onto it again as the harder he tried to stay focused on that mental image the more quickly it seemed to slip away between his fingers. Eventually he chalked it up to one of his locked away memories, although the notion of being put out by her wanting to be clean didn't really make any sense, unless she were actually _obsessed _with bathing and wanted to do it all the damn time, to the point where it was a legitimate inconvenience. She _had_ made some kind of passing comment the night before, during that brief instance when she'd thought he found her smell unpleasant, apologizing for not having bathed properly when she'd dunked herself in that stream to wash the last of that tengu's powder off, but hell, he actually found her natural scent so _soothing _that he couldn't imagine he'd actually be bothered by her wanting to keep her scent fresh and clean unless she wanted to stop so often that it was hindering their progress. Either that...or maybe just like now and what had originally triggered that random thought of his, her bathing washed off their more prominent combined scents, like from whenever he carried her on his back, and he didn't like her washing off _his _scent from her body. He supposed that made sense, and he briefly wondered in that moment if he'd ever even actually had the balls to tell her how he felt about the issue. In fact, mind made up, Inuyasha decided in that moment that if the subject of bathing were breached that morning he would in fact tell her that he would prefer it if she didn't wash for a few days, and _why_. Why keep something like that a secret from her? That didn't make any sense, either.

Though of course, to be fair, _nothing _really made any sense when you couldn't _remember _the reasons behind it.

Mentally shrugging it off, Inuyasha resolved not to worry about it, simply enjoying the feel of Kagome in his arms, her body pressed flush against his own. His bliss was about to be cut short, he'd noticed, his ears twitching as the sound of her heartbeat and breathing changed, indicating she was waking up. At least it wasn't because of anything he'd done, since he'd remained perfectly still during his introspection.

Kagome awoke slowly and peacefully, thinking briefly that she couldn't remember ever having felt so happy before in her entire life until it dawned on her that she couldn't remember very much about her life at all. During that limbo between sleep and awake she'd forgotten about the fact that she'd lost her memories, as she'd once again had a dream in which she fully remembered their other companions. This time she and the other human woman had been soaking in a hot spring, although she couldn't remember now what it was they'd been discussing during the relaxing bath. It was as if her subconscious mind was trying to show her what she was missing, giving her the pieces to the puzzle, but they faded away like a morning marine layer burned off by the sun as she came fully awake, her beatitude the only thing that remained. Fully conscious, then, and aware of her own nudity as well as her equally naked companion still intimately holding her in his arms, Kagome mused that her initial thought on the matter had still been an accurate one; she didn't need to remember the past events of her life to know that she was utterly and truly happy in that moment. She was mildly surprised to note that neither of them had shifted in their sleep, especially since she had rolled over a couple of times the previous night, but she imagined that she'd just felt so content and at peace with him holding her that there had been no need for her to try and get more comfortable. Nothing could top the comfort of him holding her in his arms the way he was presently doing. The youkai spell blocking out her memories from before the spell was cast didn't hinder her ability to recollect the activities of last night, and wiggling her bottom in that moment, she stifled a giggle as she felt more than heard Inuyasha moan against the back of her neck, his left hand giving her breast a playful squeeze.

She'd known he was awake; somehow, she'd just been able to feel it in his aura

"Good morning." she murmured playfully then, which earned her a vocalization from the hanyou that sounded like a cross between a growl and a chuckle.

"Yes, it is." he agreed then, his tone of voice both playful and sultry.

The hand on her breast drifted lower, and it was Kagome's turn to moan, as he shifted his body within the sleeping bag to tower over her ever so slightly and started licking and kissing the side of her neck, admiring the mark he'd placed there the night before.

"I would love to make it an even _better _morning," he stated as his fingertips teased her, "but we should probably get up." he stated regretfully then, pulling his hand away as he moved his mouth around from her neck to her face, his eyes smiling his greeting as he kissed her lips, Kagome eagerly tilting her head to meet him halfway, returning the kiss.

Her left hand snaked behind her body and found the object still pressed against her bottom. Giving it a squeeze, she smirked as he groaned.

"Looks like some of us are already _up_." she teased.

He chuckled, and gave her another quick kiss, before then reaching for himself with his hand to pull hers away.

"Yeah, well, he'll get over it. I can hear the villagers all shuffling around, and breakfast is already being served in the headman's main house. I know he said we could 'sleep-in' however late we wanted, but we need to hit the road."

Sighing, Kagome knew he was right. She contemplated suggesting they try to just knock out a quickie really fast, but the problem with that was that she wasn't really all that into the idea of a quickie, and she imagined that neither was he. If they were going to do it then she'd want to do it _right, _and he was right, they didn't really the have time for that.

"As soon as we can, we've got to try and make the time for us, no more excuses, _whatever _our excuses might have been in the past." she stated then, referring to the fact that they'd both come to the conclusion that the two of them had never slept together before even though they were both just as certain that they'd each wanted to for quite some time now.

"Oh, I _definitely _agree..." the hanyou purred, leaning in for one more kiss before finally scooting himself out of the sleeping bag, standing up.

Kagome immediately shimmied herself out of the bag as well, showing no concern for her nudity as she rose to her feet, or the fact that her equally naked companion was openly waggling his eyebrows at her. She did blush – she couldn't help it – but that actually had more to do with the fact that his morning excitement was on full display than the looks he was giving her. Doing her best to compose herself and not openly stare at his male perfection like a sex-crazed pervert, Kagome still didn't try to cover her own body from his view as the two of them went about gathering their haphazardly discarded clothing and getting redressed.

Using her dirty panties from the night before to wipe herself off the best she could before donning the last clean pair in her backpack, Kagome lifted an arm to sniff herself, and crinkling her nose, she said rather apologetically, "Ugh...I know you said you like my scent but I bet I'm starting to stink to you now."

"Keh, you smell even _better _now." Inuyasha replied, waggling his eyebrows again, which earned a giggle from the miko.

"I probably smell like sex!" she stated, her tone of voice amused.

He smirked.

"Exactly."

"Ugh..." she grumbled again, her tone growing more serious as she slipped on her skirt, bra and blouse. "Well, I don't really want to impose on anybody here by asking for a bath when they've already been so nice to us and we're about to go eat a free breakfast, but as soon as we can find a river or spring or something out in the woods I'd like to stop and wash up real quick. I'll try not to take too long since I know we really need to try and catch up with our friends, so no lazy soaking in a hot spring or anything, but I need to scrub. I feel all sweaty and yucky."

Inuyasha listened to the way she made her request, thinking it sounded perfectly reasonable and not the demanding tone of somebody who was literally obsessed with being clean, like that brief flash of annoyance he'd felt had tended to imply. Was it possible that he'd just used to find her desire to bathe annoying because he hadn't really thought about it from her perspective before now, thinking only that she just wanted to wash his scent off? It was clear from the way she'd spoken just now that while she was aware of the fact that she had his scent on her that that wasn't her main reason for wanting to get clean. She legitimately felt dirty, and there was nothing wrong with wanting to get clean in that case.

He'd give himself a headache if he spent too much time trying to analyze how he _might _have used to feel about certain things; all he knew was how he felt right then, in that moment, and so he'd respond based on _that_ feeling.

Having already donned his fundoshi, kosode and suikan by that point, he met Kagome's eyes while pulling on his hakama and said, "To be honest, I really like the way you smell right now. You're totally covered in my scent, both inside and out, and it's like it broadcasts to all the other youkai that you're mine. I'd rather you didn't bathe for at least a couple days so that our joining has a chance to fully seep into your scent, 'cause then when you bathe a bit of my musk'll still remain for a while 'cause it'll have become a part of you. If you wash it off too quickly more of it'll go and the scent of our coupling will be gone faster. It'll eventually fade away no matter what, so if you _really _wanna bathe I won't bitch and I'll find a river for you, but I guess I'm just kinda really enjoying the way you smell right now so I'd rather you didn't hurry to wash it off. Sorry if that's selfish; just bein' honest."

Kagome blinked in surprise at his unexpected statement, totally surprised and actually a bit relieved, although _that _bizarre and unexpected feeling also had her feeling surprised for an entirely different reason. She hadn't thought anything of it when she'd first voiced her desire to bathe, but as soon as the words had left her lips she'd suddenly had the strangest sensation in the pit of her stomach, like she was mentally cringing, bracing for impact, as though she were expecting an argument from him. Why had she believed that he would be upset with her voicing her desire to bathe? Was that an argument the two of them had had in the past? If so, she imagined that it would have had to be a fairly regular occurrence in order for her subconscious mind to be expecting it, like it was something that happened _every time _she asked to bathe. But even with as yucky and gross as she kind of felt in that moment, Inuyasha's words were so heartfelt, and also logical from a canine's perspective, that suddenly, she actually felt that even if they _had _argued about it in the past, she now kind of understood his point of view on the matter. She remembered plainly how he'd told her before that he could tell he carried her around on his back a lot, because of scent, so was it possible that the inu-youkai in him hated the idea of her washing his scent off because it was like she was rejecting him in a way or something? And this was a whole lot more important than just the scent of her riding on his back. He'd plainly said it, some of his scent was _inside _of her, and it made sense that if given enough time her body would absorb it, which explained why, regardless of how much bathing she'd done, he'd stated before that he would've been able to tell if they'd had sex before because he would've noticed it in her scent, unless the last time was _so_ long ago that it had completely faded.

If given the time necessary for her body to soak it in, then it would linger as a part of her, otherwise, while it was still fresh, she had the opportunity to more fully wash it away, but he was asking her nicely not to do that, even admitting his reasons were mostly selfish. Sighing, Kagome supposed it wouldn't _kill _her to not bathe for a couple more days, although she'd still like to find a stream to at least wash her clothes in, since she was now out of clean underwear. But so as long as she could wash her clothes to have something clean to change into then she supposed she wouldn't feel _quite _so gross, and she voiced her idea for the compromise in that moment, agreeing to wait two days to bathe _herself_ if she could at least do her laundry.

Inuyasha immediately agreed to her second request, finding it perfectly reasonable as well, and for a minute he was unable to wipe the huge smile off his face from the simple knowledge that she had agreed to wear his musk. It was like her carrying a giant, brightly colored banner that announced to all the world, or at least to anyone with a decent nose, what the two of them had just done. She _knew _that, and she had _agreed _to it. She wasn't trying to rid herself of his scent, and that knowledge made him almost as happy as he'd felt during their actual joining. Why he felt so unbelievably elated in that moment he couldn't really explain, either, as if he had actually been expecting her to want to keep what they'd done a secret. It wasn't as if he wanted her to actually blab it to the humans; just announcing it to the youkai of the world was enough, and the fact that she didn't want to hide it and pretend it hadn't happened really meant a lot to him. She wasn't ashamed to be with him. Why he had suddenly feared that she might be was yet another one of those pesky, unexplainable emotions that came out of left field and left him more befuddled than anything else, but he quickly decided it didn't really matter why some subconscious part of his mind had been afraid that she might possibly regret their joining because she _didn't_, and that was really all that mattered.

Announcing that he'd be right back after relieving himself, something he hoped would help the swelling in his pants to go away, Inuyasha stepped outside in that moment, allowing Kagome a moment to herself.

Murmuring an acknowledgment, Kagome dug around in her backpack until she found her travel size stick of deodorant, applying it by sticking each hand up under her shirt one at a time. She didn't figure that wearing the antiperspirant would interfere with youkai noses when it came to the scent Inuyasha wanted her to preserve; he knew she had that deodorant because she'd already found it and had put it on the previous morning out in the woods, so it was his own fault for not telling her to not put it on if he'd be displeased to discover that she had. She really didn't think he would be, though, because the scent of their joining wasn't coming from her armpits, after all, and she would feel much too yucky without it so that settled it right there. Running her brush through her hair, next, the miko wasn't unaware of just how happy her agreeing to not bathe had made her hanyou companion, and she found herself feeling genuinely happy as well in that moment, caring less and less about her feeling of ickiness because to her, all that really mattered was Inuyasha's happiness. Or at least, that was the predominant thought she'd had in her mind until she noticed the nasty bruise on the side of her throat as she looked herself over in her small travel mirror.

Reentering the hut at just the right, or wrong, moment, Inuyasha caught it as Kagome's breathing hitched, and turning to glance her way, his ears lowered to his head as he saw the way she started fiddling with the collar of her uniform shirt, trying to hide his mark. He did agree that blabbing their joining to the humans wasn't necessary, and might actually be a bad idea, and that hickey on her neck was a dead giveaway, the human side of him having wanted to mark her just as badly as his inu half had. At the time, he'd thought that her clothing would fully cover it and that there would be nothing to worry about. Apparently he'd gone just a little bit too high up.

_Oops_ ...

Fiddling some more, Kagome lucked out when she was able to adjust the collar of her sailor fuku to mostly covered the dark purple hickey, brushing her hair over her left shoulder to hide the last of it. Or rather, _Inuyasha _was lucky she was able to fully cover the mark, if the glare she gave him in that moment was any indication. He chuckled nervously, the sound turning into more of a genuine laugh as Kagome herself cracked up and stuck her tongue out at him. She'd known what he was doing the night before, after all, so she could hardly place all of the blame on his shoulders that morning.

"It's my fault too..." she stated then, letting him off the hook. "We both got caught up in the moment, I guess, not that there's anything wrong with that."

His ears perked up at her words, and offering her a genuine smile he gave her one last chaste kiss before she moved to don her shoes and socks. Once they were both ready to go, Kagome's pajamas and other supplies tucked back inside her backpack, said backpack slung over her shoulders beside her quiver of arrows with her bow in hand, Tessaiga tucked through Inuyasha's obi, they made sure the ashes from last night's fire were free of embers that might possibly ignite during their absence and then they were out, heading to the headman's main house for their open invitation to breakfast. It would certainly be a tremendous time saver not having to hunt for anything to eat that morning.

Hanyou and miko were both openly welcomed once they arrived, and a modest breakfast was immediately served, although much to the duo's surprise and delight that wasn't the only food prevision they were gifted with, as the headman's wife also provided them with a few different types of leaf-wrapped onigiri they could take with them as traveling food for later while out on the road. She also topped off Kagome's plastic water bottles, making no outward comment on their bizarre appearance although her initial surprise and confusion upon seeing them did not go unnoticed by the miko, who mentally filed the woman's reaction away to be analyzed later. The headman entertained his guests with pleasant conversation while they ate, since he had no new information that he could think of to fill them in on regarding anything important the two of them might possibly be missing thanks to that tengu's spell. He'd already explained all that he could about what he knew of the Shikon no Tama the previous evening, the man unaware of the fact that the Inu-tachi were actually in a race to collect the shards before Naraku could complete the jewel, nobody in that particular village having ever heard of any rumors regarding the dark hanyou's existence.

It was fortunate, for the village's sake, that none of them had ever heard of Naraku. Hopefully theirs would at least be one village that the dark hanyou would leave alone throughout his reign of destruction.

It was even more fortunate that Inuyasha and Kagome had shown up when they had, relieving the village of their burden of harboring a jewel shard, because surely its presence would have eventually earned the dark hanyou's awareness, and speaking of which, it was probably about time for them to be on their way, the couple stated a few minutes after breakfast was completed. Even though they knew nothing of Naraku they _were _both aware that youkai were attracted to the shards, just generally speaking, and for the sake of the villagers they wanted to leave before the shards Kagome carried ended up luring something else there. Even though lesser youkai weren't as drawn to them because of their purity another higher youkai like that tengu could theoretically be on their trail, and that was the _last _thing the hanyou and miko wanted to risk happening after how much pain this poor village had already suffered through, and especially after how nicely they'd treated the two of them despite their unusual appearances.

The headman waved off Kagome's thanks, stating once again that all they had done for them was the _least _they could do after the pair had gone out of their way to save them. As everyone stood up and away from the low dining table he surprised the miko even more so by bowing her way respectfully before accepting the bundle his wife had just handed him to give to the young miko, which was a wrap containing six arrows, giving her a total of thirteen.

"Oh wow, this is too much..." the miko tried to politely reject, but the headman was having none of it, holding his hands up palm out in a polite gesture of rejecting her rejection.

"Nonsense...what use are arrows if there is nobody alive to shoot them?" he stated, his smile never wavering. "Surely our entire village would have been lost had it not been for the both of you." Glancing over to meet Inuyasha's eyes he then added, "I only wish I had something more to give you."

"Keh..." the hanyou replied, crossing his arms while shoving each one through the opposite sleeve. "You've given us plenty. Any more and we'll be in _your _debt."

Smiling broader as the hanyou chuckled a bit at his own statement, the headman bowed again, accepting the young couple's farewell wishes as they got on their way. Honestly, the man wouldn't be surprised if they had bedded together in his late nephew's hut, but he'd known from the beginning with the way the miko had been riding on the hanyou's back as they'd leapt from the sky, not to mention her strange, rather indecent manner of dress, that she was not your _average _miko. The fact that she was keeping those sacred jewel shards so pure was the only proof he needed, though, to know that regardless of whatever type of relationship she might or might not have with that inu-hanyou her heart, and in fact her very soul were still as pure as ever. He had not wanted to seem rude by implying that it would be immoral for the couple to share the same dwelling for the night; automatically presuming them to be maintaining a 'proper' camaraderie could have very easily offended or even worried them if that were not the case, if they could have possibly felt scorned or shunned in any way, and so he had wanted to make sure that they knew they were welcome in his village no matter what. Logically, if they _were _maintaining a proper boundary along those lines, then the miko surely would have requested a privacy screen be placed within the one-room hut, which was one of the reasons why he'd taken them there first before serving dinner. They could have just as easily left their supplies in the genkan of his own home during super, but he'd wanted to make sure they were aware of what he'd had in mind to offer them for the night. The fact that neither of them had even so much as blinked funny at the idea of sharing the small quarters had spoken volumes, but he would not speak ill of their saviors, and neither would any other member of his family. He'd meant what he'd said when he'd promised them that they would always be welcome in his village, and that offer would not be changing so long as he was the headman, and probably even beyond. He imagined that tales of the hanyou and miko's rescue of their village would be told for generations to come, of how the two had literally dropped out of the sky to save them. They would always be heroes.

Said heroes didn't dawdle long on their way out of town, nodding back to the few bows they received along the way. They made a quick pit stop so that Kagome could relieve herself, and then with her new arrows tucked securely into her quiver she climbed up onto Inuyasha's back and then they were off, racing back through the trees the way they'd come. They calculated that they could probably get back to the area where they had been attacked by the tengu by mid-evening, and then they'd find a suitable place to make camp before heading back out in a straight line following the path that led from the village to what they were calling the tengu's field. Hopefully if they just kept on traveling in that same direction, as the bird flies, then they'd eventually come across another village, and one that had actually heard of their mystery friends. Kagome could at least fortunately remember what they looked like thanks to her two nights of dreaming about them, but if her description wasn't enough to ring any bells with whatever villagers they happened to come upon then they honestly didn't know what they'd do from there. It was a worry in the back of both of their minds, although they were trying to remain optimistic. They did know for a fact that these friends of theirs existed, and so they would do their best to find them, no matter what. Hopefully, because surely they were late by now and being missed by these other people, their friends were actually actively trying to find _them _as well, and Kagome and Inuyasha knew that they were _much _easier to describe when trying to find individuals who may or may not have happened through any given village. If whatever settlements they came upon did not know of the people they were trying to find then they would definitely make sure that the villagers knew to be on the look out for people asking about _them_, and they would give them the direction they were traveling in so that they themselves could then be followed, if it came to that.

Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

Keeping her eyes to the sky as they ran, mainly to be on the lookout for any more tengu or other flying youkai, Kagome remembered what the headman had told them of how they themselves had all been riding upon a giant, flying youkai. They were now traveling in the direction their friends had traveled in, and so hopefully if their friends were out there somewhere looking for them now as well then they were doing so by air. Hopefully they would meet in the middle somewhere. Kagome knew that that was a lot of 'hopefully's, but there was nothing wrong with hoping, was there?

oooOooooooOooo

"I hope they're all right..." Shippou murmured worriedly as he clung to the front of Miroku's robes, the kitsune riding in between the slayer and monk who were riding upon Kirara, the group having left Mushin's temple that morning at first light, before the sun had even risen.

"I am quite certain that Inuyasha would never let anything happen to Kagome-sama." Miroku attempted to sooth the boy.

"But what if something happened to Inuyasha?" Shippou countered. "What if that oni was tougher than we thought?"

"That oni's youki was fairly weak, Shippou. I am quite certain-"

"But then what if something else attacked them afterwards?!" the boy interrupted.

Sango didn't want to join in on the conversation, because the truth was she was just as worried as Shippou, and actually, she knew that Miroku was, too; he was just trying to keep a brave face for the boy. At first when Inuyasha and Kagome had not arrived on schedule, during the afternoon of the day after they had parted ways, they had thought little of it, knowing that they might have been delayed in that village if they had felt obligated to help tend to the fallen and injured, or perhaps even to offer assistance in rebuilding some of the damaged structures. Inuyasha might have even felled and split a few trees for the people, and if it had gotten too late then they definitely might have agreed to stay the night, as would surely have been offered for them having ridded the village of the oni, an oni that Sango did agree hadn't seemed very strong and one she was quite certain the hanyou and miko had handled without issue.

While they both knew that Inuyasha would never have wanted to dawdle in the village that long, they also knew that Inuyasha wouldn't have wanted to argue with Kagome about it, either, and so if she had given him 'the look', indicating that _she _wanted to stay the night, then that surely would have been the end of it. Yes, it did seem odd that they would opt to stay overnight when even Kagome would have believed that the matter of getting to Mushin's was pressing, but Sango did not think that the future-born miko had decided to make a vacation of it, enjoying a soak in a bath or anything of the sort. Perhaps it _had _taken a bit longer to kill that oni than originally anticipated, and then perhaps dealing with the dead, not to mention treating any injured survivors, had also taken longer than planned, and so then perhaps it had simply gotten so late that they would've needed to make camp soon by that time, anyway. If they would have only been able to run for maybe an hour or two before being forced to make camp somewhere out in the woods then staying the night in the village would have suddenly become a matter of practicality, so that they could have good bedding, and good food, starting fresh first thing in the morning. Inuyasha might have also had a _mild _injury (for him) that Kagome could have insisted he let heal before pushing himself too hard with so much running.

So assuming they had started out first thing the following morning, of the day she and Miroku had originally been expecting them to arrive in Mushin's village, then Sango knew they probably wouldn't have been able to make it there in one single day. Running _non-stop _at his top long-distance speed with no breaks for even a quick meal, it would have been getting dark by the time they would've arrived, and it was unfair to expect even Inuyasha to exert himself _that _much, not to mention poor Kagome. No, if they hadn't gotten started until that morning – and that was definitely the latest they should have been delayed by – then they definitely would have camped out in the woods at some point and so they should have arrived somewhere around mid-morning the following day. Sango hadn't really started to get worried until that next morning had come and gone and there had _still_ been no sign of them.

Asking Hachimon to distract little Shippou with a contest of who could transform into what, with a drunken Mushin merrily playing the roles of spectator and judge, the slayer had pulled Miroku aside and the two of them had come to an agreement. While the houshi had been beginning to feel just as worried, and he'd admitted as much in private to Sango at that time, they had agreed that they didn't want to head out in search of their friends too prematurely and risk their two groups missing each other. Inuyasha was a big boy, and Kagome truly wasn't helpless and could defend herself in her own right, and so while they'd both been getting more and more worried as time went on they'd also both tried to convince themselves that _whatever _had happened, their friends were fine, and had merely been delayed. Surely the hanyou and miko would arrive on the scene any minute now with a tale along the lines of "Oh you would not _believe _what we encountered..."

Or so the slayer and monk had both tried to convince themselves.

They had agreed, though, that if the pair did not arrive by the _next _morning, that morning, that they would have then given the two plenty of time to show up on their own. They'd waited more than a reasonable amount of time 'just in case' the two came strolling in perhaps a bit exhausted but otherwise none the worse for wear. _Now _it was time to start worrying about them, 'just in case' something bad really _had _happened, and as Kirara pushed herself to fly even faster in that moment Sango bit her lower lip as she tightened her fists on Hiraikotsu's strap, praying they hadn't made a terrible mistake in deciding to wait so long before acting.

They were about three hours in on their flight or so when Kirara suddenly roared to get their attention, her demonic eyes and nose picking up on something it took the humans riding on her back a couple more minutes to catch sight of; the western edge of the field below them was absolutely charred in a few scattered places where some sort of a battle consisting of demonic energy had definitely taken place. Instructing the nekomata to fly low so that they could get a better look at the deserted battleground below, it didn't take long for the tajiya and houshi to both notice the _very _tell-tale levels of destruction they were positive had to have been forged by a certain special katana they knew quite well, and that sealed the deal for the lot of them; it was time to land and investigate.

Kirara touched down in a fairly unscathed area, and one of the first things Shippou said upon taking a look around, his little nose twitching, was that he could in fact smell Kagome and Inuyasha's scents, but that they were stale, a couple of days old. He could also detect the scent of some kind of bird-like youkai, although he wasn't certain what it was, and its scent smelled about the same age, indicating it was probably what Kagome and Inuyasha had been fighting. There was no strong scent of blood in the air belonging to either of their friends that he could detect, and that was definitely a comforting bit of news for the slayer and monk, plus the fact that Inuyasha had _obviously _gotten in at least one good hit, but despite the lack of a blood scent one thing was very disconcerting for the group. If Kagome and Inuyasha had actually made it this far two days ago then that meant that they had actually been arriving on schedule, after all, so then where the hell _were _they? What had happened to them? Where'd they go? Had they been kidnapped? Eaten? Dissolved into nothingness?

Shippou was fortunately able to answer that question a few minutes later when in a direct attempt to follow their scents he ended up discovering that their trail appeared to turn back around and head back into the woods the way they'd come, going west. Why they had decided to turn back didn't really make any sense, unless they'd been too injured to go forward and had needed the cover of the trees while they healed, but the investigating members of the Inu-tachi hated to think about either of their friends becoming severely injured like that. Just because neither Shippou nor Kirara could detect high traces of either Inuyasha or Kagome's blood in the area didn't mean that neither of them had sustained any injuries during this battle whatsoever, and the slayer and monk both knew that, loath as they were to admit it, but they wanted to stay optimistic to the best of their abilities. Perhaps the hanyou and miko were unharmed and there had been some other reason why they'd needed to backtrack?

Further investigation bore more questions than answers when Kirara spotted what looked like an opened carrying cloth lying on the ground with some kind of a white powder scattered all around it. Sango immediately instructed Kirara to stay away and make sure not to breathe in any of the powder, just in case, and then applying her taijiya gas mask she got in close for a more thorough examination. Miroku, who was being careful not to breathe too deeply with his sleeve over his nose, said that he could sense lingering, left over traces of dark magic associated with the white substance. It wasn't just a nasty ground up mixture like one of Sango's taijiya potions, which were really just a combination of special herbs and spices. Rather, there was a lingering trace of, not demonic energy, but more like a human's brand of black magic, like the tainted aura of a kuromiko. It was a witch's concoction.

Shippou stated at the monk's comment that he could not detect the scent of any other humans in the area, or anyone else for that matter other than that single youkai that smelled somewhat bird-ish although he couldn't quite put his finger on it, and everyone quickly came to the conclusion that if this powder had in fact been involved in some way, and had in fact been charged up with a dark witch's magic, that it had to have been this mystery youkai who had utilized the potion. It was not unheard of for higher youkai to partner up with human witches, and the why was fairly obvious when they took Kagome's jewel shards into consideration. That almost definitely had to be the reason for what they were starting to fear might have been an ambush, since the youkai smelling somewhat bird-like strongly implied an aerial assault. Shippou also stated that Kagome and Inuyasha's scents were mildly tainted with something bitter-sweet, like a floral scent but not quite, and although he was careful _not _to breathe in any of the white powder itself it was easy for him to know that that was the source of the funny smell. Inuyasha and Kagome had become coated with the stuff. The bundle had probably been dropped on them from the sky and they hadn't had any time to react.

That realization, combined with the fact that their friends, having thankfully both survived against whatever had been attacking them, had decided to turn tail and head back into the woods instead of completing the relatively short journey by that point to Mushin's temple, _really _had the monk and slayer on edge. While the magic dust had lost most of its potency by that point there was no telling what it had originally been strong enough to do, or what it might have done to their friends. No longer even worrying about trying to keep up appearances for Shippou's sake the lot of them immediately got back on Kirara and continued their search, now feeling more as if they were in hot pursuit of the missing duo. At least now that Shippou and Kirara both had the hanyou and miko's scent trail Sango and Miroku could relax by the minutest amount, knowing that they _would _eventually find them. They were no longer flying blind but were actually tracking the pair, so catching up to them was now a matter of when, not if. Of course, if they would have failed to find either the pair or their scent trail out in the woods their plan had been to travel all the way back to that village with the oni problem if necessary and pick up Inuyasha and Kagome's trails from there, but finding their trail now had definitely been a time saver and for that they were grateful. What condition their friends would be in when they found them was yet to be seen, but the sooner they found the hanyou and miko the better, they were sure.

oooOooooooOooo

Kagome and Inuyasha stopped for lunch a little after the sun's zenith, the couple pleased with the amount of ground they'd been able to cover so far. They were right on schedule; Inuyasha could tell by scent, his nose recognizing the general area of forest they currently rested in while they enjoyed some okaka-filled onigiri courtesy of the headman's wife. It was a nice change from roasted rabbit and a time saver to boot, so that was a win/win as far as they were concerned. They ate their meal in companionable silence, neither of them feeling the need to fill the moment with mindless chatter. They were still feeling a little anxious to find their friends – and hopefully a cure for the spell they were under while they were at it – but other than that they both really felt content and at peace with the world around them. They also hadn't run into any youkai trouble all morning, and that was a pleasant bit of good luck they hoped would continue on for the rest of the day.

Finishing up their meal, Kagome checked the status of her laundry, Inuyasha having found the perfect spot to stop for lunch that was near a forest stream. She had washed her underthings first, so that they could dry while they ate. They'd also taken the time to build a quick fire and boil a pot of water so that they could refill their drinking bottles again; it would've been foolish not to take advantage of the opportunity to do so.

Dousing their fire with another pot of water once they were through, Kagome packed up her things and then they were off. Everything remained as uneventful as before, a few random lower youkai they could sense here and there scrambling to get out of the way as they approached being their only encounters with forest youkai so far. That didn't mean they'd let their guards down, though, just in case. Kagome kept her miko senses stretched to the max, her eyes to the sky. Nothing would be getting the drop on them _this _time around.

Everything was smooth sailing for around another hour or so until suddenly, hanyou and miko both stiffened at the same time, a much stronger youki signature than anything they'd felt so far suddenly at the edge of their senses and approaching fast. Coming to a stop on a sturdy branch Kagome remained on Inuyasha's back as he stood still up near the top of the tree he'd landed on, the two of them looking all around for whatever it could be. Inuyasha sniffed the air but unfortunately the wind was not on their side, as whatever it was, he couldn't smell anything unusual.

Suddenly, though, he saw it. And it was coming from dead ahead.

"Look! I see some kind of flying youkai coming from the east!" he said to Kagome eagerly, not pointing as he still had both of his hands firmly clasping her legs for support.

Squinting, it was hard for the miko to see anything, although with the early afternoon sun slightly behind them she at least wasn't being blinded by the morning light any more. It took a couple of minutes, but then her human eyes could finally make out what looked like some kind of a dot far off in the distance. Focusing her miko senses on that dot, Kagome could immediately feel it in her soul that that was indeed the source of the youki she could feel, and it was still getting stronger. Whatever it was was headed right for them.

"Does it feel hostile to you?" she asked her companion hesitantly, not wanting to get her hopes up prematurely.

"Not yet." he replied, his tone cautiously optimistic as well. "Hang on." he said then, as he leapt down from the tree and ran along the forest floor for a moment to build his momentum back up until he could once again launch them through the tree tops.

The 'dot' now had visible flames attacked to it, and...passengers?

It wasn't the giant flying youkai the village headman had described, but somehow, the image struck a cord with the hanyou and miko; they both _knew_ they'd seen it before. Jumping high between the trees, Inuyasha gave his leaps a little more oomph than necessary, focusing more on achieving greater height than distance in an attempt at letting whoever was approaching know that he knew they were there, as well as making sure there was no way the approaching individuals could miss seeing _them_.

oooOooooooOooo

Only stopping once more for a few minutes to eat some rice balls they'd gotten from Mushin and to relieve themselves, while Kirara quickly caught herself a fish in the nearby stream, it was over four hours after they'd left that eerie field of destruction where they'd first picked up Inuyasha and Kagome's trails that Miroku suddenly announced that he could sense Inuyasha's demonic aura. After having traveled so closely with the hanyou for so many months he knew the feel of Inuyasha's youki inside and out.

"I smell him! He's getting closer!" Shippou chimed in at Miroku's words, and peering ahead in the distance it only took the two humans a couple of minutes to make out what they thought looked like a tiny speck bouncing up and down on the distant tree tops.

"Heh, he looks like a flea jumping on a dog's back." Shippou chuckled, the boy immediately losing his worry at the sight of their companions' seemingly unharmed appearance. His demonic eyesight already enabled him to make out the form of Kagome riding on the hanyou's back.

"I would advise withholding that comment until after we have assessed Inuyasha's mood." Miroku stated through a tiny chuckle of his own, unable to conceal his own amusement at the kit's comparison.

While it was a crude, albeit actually somewhat accurate analogy, the reason behind Inuyasha's unusual leap patterns quickly became apparent when it dawned on both Sango and Miroku that he and Kagome had spotted them, as well, and he was merely trying to make sure that their appearance did not go unnoticed, as might have been the case if they had been running down within the trees instead of along their tops. It became even more obvious that they were trying to get their attention when Kagome, bow in hand, waved her arm from side to side. Sango replied by immediately lifting and waving Hiraikotsu from left to right as well, and then she instructed Kirara to find a suitable place to land.

oooOooooooOooo

"It's them. I recognize them from my dreams. I'm sure of it." Kagome stated confidently as she lifted her left hand and waved her bow from side to side, trying to flag them down.

"Keh...I might not've dreamt of 'em, but I gotta admit, they sure do look kinda familiar, somehow. Just the same as you in your funny clothes had looked familiar to me right away, I _know _I've seen that lot before."

Completely ignoring his 'funny clothes' comment, Kagome squealed with excitement as they both saw the woman respond to her wave, hoisting some kind of a giant boomerang up into the air and waving it back and forth in a clearly non-hostile manner before the nekomata they were riding upon swooped low and veered off towards a nearby clearing within the trees.

"Keh, guess that's my cue." Inuyasha stated as he made a bee-line for that clearing as well.

oooOooo

Hanyou and miko touched down right as the slayer and monk were dismounting Kirara's back, and at the sight of his favorite human standing before him completely unharmed little Shippou immediately ran up to the girl, shouting "Kagome!" at the top of his lungs.

He completed the maneuver, leaping into the girl's arms – who moved to catch him on instinct – before giving his nose a chance to fully catch up with all the new information it was receiving from the pair. As Kagome stared down at the cute little youkai child in her arms with what she was sure was an awkward smile, unsure of how to go about breaching the subject of their lost memories, Shippou's eyes grew huge, and he suddenly turned and scrambled to get out of her arms as quickly as possible, as if terrified Inuyasha was about to pound him one for daring to touch the girl without permission.

Inuyasha of course _was _mildly annoyed by the boy's behavior, although he'd hardly been about to hit him over the head for it. He was obviously just a child and not a rival male, after all, and he also clearly hadn't _meant _to cover up his scent marks on the miko. He was just happy to see her; the hanyou could understand that. Inuyasha, too, was more worried in that moment about how to go about explaining what had happened to these friends he had no memory of than Kagome's shirt smelling a little of an underage kitsune. She still smelled exclusively of _him _where it counted most. Inuyasha inwardly smiled at the thought, taking a nice deep breath of their combined scents coming off of the girl to help ease his nerves.

Sango and Miroku observed Shippou's reaction in confusion and trepidation. What on earth could possibly make Shippou _afraid _of Kagome? Stretching his senses, Miroku was positive that this was the real future-born miko and not an imposter, and neither was Inuyasha a counterfeit of any kind; their spiritual and demonic auras gave them away. So then what on earth...

"Y-you two mated!" Shippou blurted then, 'causing a lovely shade of tomato red to adorn Kagome's cheeks.

Okay, now it was _beyond _obvious that she and Inuyasha had never had sex before, but did it really warrant _that _much of a surprised reaction?

Apparently so, if the two humans' faces in that moment were any indication.

"Kagome-chan...?" Sango started, her tone both surprised and confused. "What...?"

"It's a _very _long story..." the miko stated then, earning a snort from the hanyou that indicated his belief that _that _was the understatement of the century. "Uh..." Kagome continued after a moment, clearing her throat nervously. She glanced Inuyasha's way for help.

He rolled his eyes.

_Best to just get it over with_... he decided then, squaring his shoulders.

"We got hit with some kind of fucking magic powder while fighting a tengu after her jewel shards, and it fucked up our memories. We pretty much don't remember shit about ourselves or anything else from before the tengu's attack."

"_What?!"_ Sango and Miroku both yelled in unison, utterly horrified to learn the true extent of what had actually happened to their friends during that battle. A tengu was bird-like, so that had to have been the youkai Shippou had smelled, the boy probably just not being able to identify the scent as he'd never come across that type of youkai before in his short life.

"Yeah...pretty much." Kagome continued then, feeling the tiniest bit relieved now that the hardest part was over. "We could kinda both tell right away that we knew each other, somehow, and well that tengu was still trying to kill us so we had to join forces pretty quickly in order to not die. We figured most things out on the fly, like how I have miko powers and can fire purifying arrows, and how Inuyasha can use some magical attacks both from his claws and sword. But we didn't even know our _names _until we followed our scent trail back to that village where we all split up before, where they told us you guys dropped us off to take care of that forest oni. Fortunately the villagers there had learned our names from before and so they'd been able to tell us that much, plus a little bit about the Shikon no Tama, like how I'm collecting and purifying its shards, and they also told us about you guys, that we'd said we had some other friends we had to travel east to meet, and so then here we are, traveling east to meet you."

Sango shook her head in bafflement.

"How did you even know it was us?" she asked, almost unable to grasp the true severity of what they were telling them they'd been through.

"I actually kinda dreamed about you guys for the last two nights." Kagome admitted at Sango's question. "Just random, vague things, like camping and eating ramen, and bathing in a hot spring. But so I recognize you."

Sango nodded slowly to that.

"Even I can tell you're familiar." Inuyasha chimed in. "It's like we can kinda sense what seems _right _or _wrong_, and so we've really been goin' off of instincts for the last two days."

Miroku and Sango exchanged a silent glance, their expressions uneasy. Shippou's comment had _not _been forgotten, and if what the pair were saying was true then they had a _very _big dilemma on their hands. Not that either the slayer or monk actually thought it was a _problem_, per se. _They _knew the hanyou and miko were in love with each other, and apparently, on a subconscious level, the hanyou and miko knew it, too, and had now been able to express those feelings freely. But what would happen when the spell was reversed? Fortunately, neither the slayer nor monk were worried about the possibility that this spell could _not _be lifted; based on their descriptions, the way Kagome had dreamt of them and the way certain things still felt familiar, it was clear to both Sango and Miroku that their memories were not erased but merely blocked in some way. They were each familiar with various spells that could accomplish this, and they were certain that Kaede would know of a way to reverse it.

Of course, the silent exchange between taijiya and houshi did not go unnoticed by the two inflicted with said spell, and since they both felt rather comfortable with their newfound level of closeness, even despite their friends' initial shock, their first thought was that the monk and slayer were actually worried about the spell they were under.

"Do...do you know if there's a way to reverse this spell?" Kagome asked timidly then, and Sango's heart immediately melted at the level of worry in the miko's eyes, the taijiya quickly realizing that her and Miroku's worry regarding _other _matters was giving the poor, confused miko the wrong impression.

She smiled warmly.

"Oh yes, Kagome-chan, I am quite certain that this spell can be reversed. You two will just have to trust us enough to follow us back to a village we all stay within on a regular basis. There's an old miko there, named Kaede-sama, and I'm sure she'll be able to undo that tengu's borrowed magic."

Inuyasha could detect no trace of deceit or dishonesty in the taijiya's scent, and tapping his nose with his right index finger, he offered the youkai slayer a nod and said, "I trust you"

Miroku and Sango were both mildly shocked again at his words, not at the fact that Inuyasha was trusting them in that moment so much as he'd _admitted _to it, but they did know that if his instincts were still intact as far as what felt right or wrong then surely he would sense it that he knew them and could trust them, and so that was a good thing. They both smiled then.

"Well then, it looks like introductions are in order..." Miroku began with a friendly expression, moving to clasp Kagome's right hand in between his own, which earned a quietly grumbled, "Behave yourself, Houshi-sama." from the slayer.

Miroku awkwardly laughed it off at Kagome's confused and mildly cautious expression, as she slowly retracted her hand away from his reach as if wary to let him touch her after Sango's warning.

"Ah...Kagome-sama, I am Miroku, and my affections are quite harmless, I can assure you."

"That's not what all the ladies whose bottoms you've touched think!" Shippou chimed in, earning a low growl from the hanyou as he made a step closer to Kagome.

Miroku nervously cleared his throat, retracting his own hands and holding them palm up in a gesture of peace.

"Okay...I admit that I have a bit of a flirtatious side to my nature..." he began, earning a snort from the taijiya. Ignoring Sango, Miroku lowered his hands and turned his gaze, meeting Inuyasha's eyes, the look in his own surprisingly sincere. "But you told me long ago, Inuyasha, that Kagome-sama was off limits when it came to that type of attention, and I can assure you, especially now, that I have _no _intention of stepping out of line in that regard."

The hanyou immediately relaxed his posture, detecting no dishonesty in the monk's scent, either.

"Keh...just so long as we're clear, Bouzu."

Miroku was mildly surprised but also strangely pleased to hear the usually rather unpleasant nickname. It had to be true, then, that their conscious memories were merely being suppressed.

"My name is Sango." the slayer spoke up then, effectively changing the subject as far as Miroku and his questionable ways regarding women were concerned.

"I'm Shippou!" the kitsune chimed in next, puffing his chest in pride. "And she's Kirara." he added, pointing to the still transformed nekomata who gave a soft roar at the introduction that some might have found scary but somehow to the miko and hanyou it just sounded like her version of a hello.

"I must have dreamt something wrong, 'cause for some reason I can see her being little, kitten size."

"Oh, she can transform into a smaller form." Sango confirmed, and as if on cue Kirara transformed into her kitten form in that moment and approached Kagome, who proceeded to coo over how cute she was in that form. Mewing softly, Kirara rubbed up against Kagome's legs for a moment before walking back over towards her mistress. She was just as relieved that they'd found their friends unharmed as everyone else was.

"Well, then, I suppose we should make haste. The sooner we reach Kaede-sama the sooner you two can have your memories restored." Miroku stated then.

"Keh, no arguments here." Inuyasha readily agreed.

"What do you say, Kirara?" Sango asked her feline companion. "I know you've been pushing yourself all morning already. Do you need to rest for a little while first?"

Kirara meowed something in her kitten form and then with a burst of flame she transformed herself back into her saber form, making her own thoughts on the matter crystal clear.

"Thank you, Kirara. We truly appreciate it." Kagome acknowledged to the neko-youkai, and if it weren't for the fact that cats supposedly couldn't smile the miko would've sworn it looked like Kirara offered her one as the monk, slayer and kitsune all climbed back on board.

"The journey back will take a few days, so if everyone feels up to it we should try to push it as far as possible today before finding a place to make camp for the night." Sango said before they took off, Kirara roaring her own agreement.

The nekomata was used to pushing it when the moment called for it, and since they'd just had a couple of days rest at Mushin's temple after a youkai battle that hadn't been too exerting for her the two-tailed cat had more than enough energy reserves to handle the current demand. She too felt the sense of urgency involved in this matter and refused to be the cause of any more delays. Plus she was sure that once they _did _make it back to Kaede's village Sango would pamper her with a few days' rest and plenty of fish, not to mention how Kagome was bound to want to go home after this, and would almost assuredly bring back some of those extra delicious cat treats from her time when she returned, as she always tended to do in thanks whenever the nekomata had played an extraordinarily large role in whatever had recently taken place. Mentally licking her lips, Kirara could almost taste it.

With everyone in silent agreement as they got going that beyond the name exchange there was really not all that much else that needed to be discussed right then in that moment, since presumably as soon as they got back to Kaede's village the elderly miko would be able to reverse the spell, Kagome and Inuyasha were content to remain in the dark regarding their many questions for the time being as they followed behind their friends upon the flying Kirara. Sure, they each had a ton of things that they wanted to ask buzzing around in their heads, but they both figured that if there was anything they desperately wanted to know the answer to instead of just waiting for their own minds to be unlocked they could quiz their friends about it that night at camp. Right now the most important thing was to cover as much ground as possible, so that the trip back to this Kaede person would take as little time as possible.

As Inuyasha leapt through the trees following behind the nekomata, who was making sure to stay low enough that her riders could shout back and forth with the hanyou and miko if need be, he gave Kagome's legs an extra squeeze, which she returned by squeezing his shoulders. They were both more excited than anything else, tremendously relieved to learn that there was in fact a cure for what that tengu had done to them. Kagome was starting to feel a bit of a butterfly effect in her stomach, but in a good way, for the most part at least. Their friends' shock regarding the news of their nighttime activities was still buzzing around in her head, but Kagome knew in her heart that she loved Inuyasha, and that she must have _already _loved Inuyasha because it was those feelings that she was feeling now; she wouldn't have felt drawn to him in that way otherwise. So knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that her feelings for him were real, and that according to him his feelings for her were just as legitimate, then she couldn't imagine a reason why she would end up regretting what they'd done. She wouldn't. She couldn't.

Inuyasha's thoughts were traveling in similar circles, although he was trying not to worry about it too much, but he wasn't the only one who couldn't get thoughts of his and Kagome's recent mating out of his head, and about a half hour or so in on their journey he unintentionally ended up getting a sneak preview of things to potentially worry about.

All members of the Inu-tachi aboard Kirara had begun the journey in contemplative silence, thinking about recent developments in the privacy of their own minds, but finally it was little Shippou who could no longer keep his curiosity to himself, being the (mostly) innocent child that he was.

"I don't get it." he spoke up suddenly, his voice low, but not low enough.

"And what would that be?" Miroku asked in reply, Sango silently hoping the kit wasn't about to ask what she thought he was.

"If Inuyasha and Kagome don't even really remember each other, then why did they mate? Shouldn't they have forgotten about their feelings for each other?"

"You heard what they said about how certain things still feet right or wrong." the monk reminded, handling the subject with a surprising amount of maturity, much to Sango's relief. "I imagine that deep down inside, their hearts remembered." he clarified.

"But what about Kikyou?" Shippou asked then. "Won't she cause problems? Isn't that why Inuyasha never approached Kagome before, because he's still not over Kikyou?"

"I believe Inuyasha's romantic feelings toward Kikyou-sama are long gone." Miroku stated. "He cherishes her memory, yes, but he also knows that she is his past. Avenging her and protecting her from Naraku has become Inuyasha's giri, but to me it is obvious that his heart now belongs to Kagome-sama. Whether or not she has realized this for herself I am uncertain, but if not, then under the circumstances, I do not believe that Inuyasha will allow Kagome-sama to continue to believe that he loves Kikyou-sama more than her."

"I hope you're right." Sango murmured in agreement, knowing herself just how deeply Kagome loved the hanyou and also knowing that Inuyasha _did _love Kagome in return, although he'd clearly been reluctant to admit it. Hopefully, now, he wouldn't have a choice.

From his place several feet below and behind their friends, Inuyasha listened to the others' quiet – but not quiet enough – conversation with a furrowed brow, suddenly realizing what might be the real reason why he and Kagome had not previously gotten together. It'd had nothing to do with her jewel shards or a simple inability to find intimate time alone together. It was his doing, because of some honor-bound responsibility he apparently had to some other woman he had apparently once loved.

Thinking about it for a moment, Inuyasha quickly decided that he agreed with the monk; he would definitely make sure that Kagome knew _she _was the one he wanted romantically, even if after getting his memories back he realized that this giri _was_ something he still needed to attend to and could not ignore in favor of his newfound level of closeness to the miko currently riding on his back. The possibility of there being some other woman in his life had never even crossed his mind during their intimate activities together, because in his heart, even now after hearing this, he still felt that there was only Kagome; it didn't feel like anything was missing, and he still agreed with what he and the miko had previously discussed, in that if they had hypothetically never been able to find their friends or reverse this spell he could have lived happily ever after with her in some random village somewhere, doing their best to protect her jewel shards while not worrying about anything else. In his heart he felt like all he needed was the miko presently riding on his back and he would be whole, content and at peace regardless of the surrounding circumstances. To learn now that he had responsibilities regarding some other woman was an unpleasant hurdle, but he would clear it without difficulty; regardless of whatever his _duty _forced him to attend to, Kagome was the one he would share his private life with, of that he was sure. Why he had never previously made his feelings on the matter known to her he couldn't say while his memories were still blocked, but it didn't really matter now that he and Kagome had already had sex. He had a sinking suspicion that he'd lose some of his bravado once he did get his memories back, once he knew precisely who this Kikyou person actually was, but no matter _what _it turned out their previous situation had actually been Inuyasha felt confident that he could swallow his pride and take it like a man. He had no choice. His relationship with Kagome was at stake here, and he would _not _ruin his chance to be happy with the miko that was his whole world. If he had some kind of responsibility to this other woman then so be it, but he would not let his giri interfere with his and Kagome's relationship, or at least, not any longer.

He wondered briefly if he should share this revelation with Kagome in advance but ultimately decided there was no point in worrying the girl. It was only his advanced hearing that had allowed him to hear the monk and kitsune's conversation and she was presently none the wiser so why bring up a heartache she couldn't even remember? He'd deal with it after they both got their memories back, and for once he'd actually _deal _with it, instead of apparently acting like the coward he had previously been. Their friends were all hoping that he'd do the right thing, and why they were worried about how he might possibly react worried him in return, but all the more reason to actually _do_ the right thing, right? He was sure there was more to it than what he'd overheard, but trying to fill in the gaps with random hypotheses wouldn't really do him any good, either, and so deciding to put what he'd heard out of his mind for the time being Inuyasha instead concentrated on the feel of Kagome's arms wrapped around his shoulders, his hands cupping the backs of her thighs. He minutely tightened his grip on her legs, finding tremendous comfort in her nearness. No matter what happened, no matter what he remembered, he would not let anything keep he and Kagome apart, not even himself.

oooOooo

Making camp several hours later, the rest of the day's journey had passed by in moderate silence, the group upon Kirara engaging in only a couple other brief conversations regarding their hope that Kaede could reverse the spell in relatively short order, and also that they could make back it to her village without running into any major youkai trouble along the way. So far so good on the latter; the former was yet to be seen although they were relatively optimistic.

As everyone settled around the campfire Kagome had started with her matches she couldn't contain herself any longer, and as she took a drink from one of her plastic water bottles she asked the others one of the questions that had been plaguing her mind since almost the beginning.

"How come we haven't come across any signs of modern-day life? We've been traveling non-stop over forests and fields without a single city as far as the eye can see, and Japan just doesn't have that many open areas left. We _are_ in Japan, aren't we?"

She thought that was a silly question, since they were speaking Japanese, but she just had to ask.

Miroku and Sango shared an uneasy glance, and then Sango answered, "Yes, Kagome-chan, this is Japan."

"Well then how come everything looks like it's out of the pages of a history book?" she asked next, referring even to Sango and Miroku's own manner of dress, not to mention Inuyasha's even more archaic robes, and then there was that village where they'd previously battled the oni; not a pair of jeans or sneakers to be found.

Wanting to stay traditional was all fine and good, but even everyone's dialect was old-fashioned. Kagome could only assume she'd gotten used to it from her time spent in the area, as she had been able to carry on a conversation with that village headman and the others without difficulty, but it was really starting to make her feel like she was stuck in the past or something, as silly as she knew that sounded.

Sango and Miroku exchanged another nervous glance, which in turn made Kagome nervous, and then the slayer cleared her throat and dropped the bomb, telling the young miko that, to her, she _was _in the past, because she was actually from _their_ future. That of course earned another exclamation of _"What?!", _this time from the hanyou and miko, but Miroku chimed in in that moment explaining only that it was a _very _long and complicated story, and one they would most definitely take the time to explain if they had to, but that hopefully Kaede would have a remedy already on hand and that no explanations would be necessary because soon, the two of them would be getting their memories back.

Kagome just shook her head in amazement, able and willing to wait until the spell was lifted because she didn't even think she would be able to follow the story if they decided to explain it to her, anyway. She was from the future? Or rather, she was _in _the past?

_What in the huh? _

She almost wanted to laugh it off as ridiculous, except that in a crazy, far out there sort of way, it actually explained _everything_. Especially when, after Inuyasha chimed in stating that that couldn't be right because so many things about what Kagome had said she still somehow knew of the world around them had seemed familiar to him, too, Miroku and Sango _did _explain that Kagome's method of transport between their two worlds was by leaping into a magical well, and that Inuyasha could also travel through this well and go into _her _world. Things from her time, like cities, would seem familiar to him then because he had in fact seen them for himself.

That there was apparently some kind of a magical time portal that only she and Inuyasha could use, Kagome found that notion absolutely enthralling, and to her it only reinforced the feeling of rightness she had deep in her soul that she and this inu-hanyou were meant to be together. Nothing more was said regarding the fact that they'd had sex...thank goodness, Kagome didn't think she'd be able to make it through such a conversation without her face bursting into flame...but so regardless of whatever reasons why they had never gotten together before, if she could travel here into his world and he could also travel into hers...well, nothing shouted destiny quite like that did, in her opinion.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, was beginning to realize just how highly the odds had been stacked against them. Not only was there some other woman from his past for whom he'd outwardly left his present feelings unclear because of being tied to her via some kind of honor-bound giri, but now, on top of that, Kagome was from another _time? _He wouldn't let that detour him, though. Especially not with the way she was smiling at him in that moment. He couldn't ignore his own feeling of rightness in his heart as he nodded her way with a small grin in return, and the fact that he was apparently the only one from his century who could travel into Kagome's world had not gone unnoticed to him, either.

The rest of their dinner conversation was just as intense, with the hanyou and miko taking a turn being the ones to answer the questions, as Sango and Miroku asked about how things had been for the two of them upon waking up into a world of confused nothingness and instantly finding out they were under attack. As they relayed their story, the slayer and monk both felt a chill run down their spines at the realization of just how close they had actually come to losing their friends, while Shippou cuddled tightly to Kagome, relieved that she was unharmed.

He'd given a subtle glance Inuyasha's way to silently ask permission, first, and the hanyou had nodded his consent, the exchange going unnoticed by the miko who easily comforted the boy, wrapping her arms around him as he sat on her lap. She still smelt strongly of Inuyasha, but Shippou didn't mind it; he'd thought when he'd first met the two that she was Inuyasha's woman and he was actually happy for the both of them, assuming things worked out all right in the end. If Inuyasha ended up breaking Kagome's heart he'd never let the baka get away with it, and he'd torture him non-stop until he stopped being such a baka, but he wouldn't get mad at Inuyasha prematurely; he hadn't made Kagome cry _yet _and so maybe he really _would _do the right thing. Shippou had decided to wait and see.

Talking about battling that tengu as well as the other smaller youkai they'd come across over the last two days reminded Kagome in that moment of what the village headman had said about what _she _had originally said about how they'd been in a rush to get going because another village had been in need of their aid, the village Sango and Miroku had gone on to help, and inquiring in that moment on how that mission had gone and expressing her concern that their delay might have caused any distress, the miko was relieved to learn that the emotion-eating youkai that had been plaguing Mushin's villagers had been taken care of by the slayer and monk without too much difficulty and that her and Inuyasha's absence had not been detrimental to the success of that mission. That didn't stop her from apologizing, of course, but Sango and Miroku both quickly waved off Kagome's concerns, again expressing _their _relief that she and Inuyasha had walked away from that tengu's attack relatively unscathed and also that they'd been able to do so well for themselves over the last couple days of living in the unknown. His magic could have been so much worse; that tengu could have so easily dropped a plain ol' poison on them that could have incapacitated or even killed them both. Miroku hypothesized that such a potion might have been harder for the tengu to come by, that he had befriended some random human witch who only specialized in certain types of magic, but whatever the reason, it was unanimously agreed that things could have been _much _worse, and they were all tremendously grateful for the fact that they were not.

As everyone settled into bed for the night Inuyasha felt torn, a part of him wanting to sleep with Kagome – just sleep – and hold her in his arms all night, even though another, larger part of him knew he really needed to keep watch up in a tree, as he imagined was his usual position. Finally, he made the decision to lightly doze in the tree, keeping himself mostly on alert; he just couldn't risk all of them falling into a deep sleep and then something sneaking up on them as a result of his failure to detect it in advance. Yes, there were two other youkai present now, but he still felt as if the job of protecting Kagome, specifically, fell on his shoulders and his shoulders alone. Not that he didn't give a rat's ass about the other two humans. He did in fact care about them in a way, for some reason, presuming his subconscious mind simply recognized them as the friends and comrades in arms that they were. They were most definitely his responsibility, too, as was the kitsune child and two-tailed cat, and so with even more people to protect on this night he _definitely _couldn't permit himself to drift off completely.

That didn't stop the hanyou from giving Kagome a quick goodnight kiss, though, and he didn't give a damn if the others' eyes popped right out of their sockets. Smirking to himself as he leapt up into his chosen tree for the night afterwards, his smug satisfaction came not from the way the others had all smelled of surprise or total shock, but from the way Kagome's scent had spiked with desire.

There was no way in _hell _he was going to give her up, no matter _what _he remembered.

oooOooo

The morning was relatively uneventful as they packed up their camp, and after a quick breakfast of more fire-roasted rabbit the gang was once again on their way. They ran into some mild youkai trouble a couple of hours in, just some lowly oni of one variety or another demanding Kagome's jewel shards, but said miko felled the beast with a single arrow and then they were back on the road. They stopped a couple of times throughout the day to relieve themselves or even just to stretch their legs, as the non-stop riding was a little hard on the three humans of the group, but they were making pretty good time and Miroku and Sango guessed that if they could maintain the same pace that they would probably reach Kaede's village by the end of the next day.

Around early afternoon the gang encountered a slightly more advanced youkai than an oni, some kind of ugly reptilian thing that looked like a cross between a turtle and a dragon, but it was still lacking in the intelligence department and it was a fairly easy task for the Inu-tachi to take it out, even though it was more of a group effort that time. Sango and Miroku got to see Inuyasha in action as a result and they were immediately impressed with how quickly and naturally he controlled Tessaiga, and while Miroku opted to leave his kazaana covered as it was not that serious of a youkai battle he had no fear that the air void could have caught the others off guard and put them in danger after he observed the way they naturally fell into the flow of fighting as a group of four, the miko and hanyou effortlessly working around and with the monk and slayer as Sango threw Hiraikotsu and Miroku used his ofuda. The monk and slayer had both already known, because their friends had said so, that they were able to function on instinct and that certain things that they were obviously used to doing still just came naturally to them, but actually fighting that youkai together proved it to the other two humans in that moment, now that they'd actually seen it for themselves. Even hypothetically if Kaede could _not _reverse this spell then Sango and Miroku would not mourn the loss of their friends, because they were right there; Inuyasha and Kagome had not gone anywhere.

The rest of the day's travel went by uneventfully, and as Sango began to recognize the area they were in she instructed Kirara where she wanted the nekomata to take them for the perfect spot to make camp for the night. They reached the area Sango had in mind around late evening, a little before sunset, and everyone agreed that it was perfect timing so settling down in the small clearing near a mountain stream they went about making camp for the second night of their journey back. It didn't take long for Sango to reveal the real reason why she had chosen such a precise location.

"Kagome-chan, there is a hot spring only a few minutes' walk from here, if you would like to join me in a bath." the slayer invited after dinner was through, catching the miko off guard.

It wasn't as if Kagome felt uneasy about the idea of bathing with the taijiya; heck, she'd had a dream about it, and to be perfectly honest the idea of soaking in a hot spring sounded absolutely lovely in that moment. She _really _wanted a bath; her hair felt tangled and greasy, and there was dirt in the creases of her skin and underneath her fingernails. But hesitating in that moment, as Sango gazed her way expectantly, Kagome responded by sending a glance in Inuyasha's direction, her eyes questioning, and it was easy for the hanyou to recognize why she was torn; she had promised not to bathe for at least two days.

But that was two days ago.

Well, yesterday morning, but the scents in question were two nights old by that time.

"Keh...go ahead." he told her then, giving a small, encouraging nod. "It's had enough time to soak in."

Kagome blushed mildly as she caught Sango's own awkward smile and blush, the taijiya realizing quickly enough what Inuyasha was talking about, but clearing her throat and gathering the necessary supplies from her backpack Kagome only murmured a quiet thanks and promise to not take too long before slinking off with the slayer, a kitten-sized Kirara tagging along to provide security.

Reaching the hot spring, Kagome lost whatever lingering awkwardness she'd felt in her gut as the steamy pool of warm water almost seemed to call out to her, and immediately she and the taijiya disrobed and climbed into the spring with duel sighs of contentment. It felt _soooooo _good to get clean again to the future-born miko, who was much more used to regularly scheduled baths. Even without her memories bathing regularly just seemed to her like something that should be done, and she'd really been pushing it in the gross-feeling department, her _only _reason for compliance with waiting having been Inuyasha's comments regarding his scent marking her and a desire that had stemmed from deep within her heart upon learning that fact to not do anything that could possibly be seen by him, or other youkai, as her somehow rejecting his claim. She couldn't put her finger on it, but for some reason she'd just felt like it was important for her to announce, at least in the youkai way, that she and Inuyasha belonged to one another. Perhaps other youkai had taunted them in the past? Maybe enemies they'd fought, who had been aware of their desire for each other but also of the fact that they had yet to do anything, had used their inaction against them, sneering to Inuyasha that she wouldn't have him because he was a hanyou, and that was most definitely _not _true. She wasn't disturbed by his mixed blood whatsoever, and hypothetically if enemies _had_ taunted them in the past, taunted _him _that he was a loser who couldn't get the girl, then Kagome wanted to shove it in their faces just how wrong they really were. She might've been a little embarrassed to talk about it, but she was not ashamed of what she and Inuyasha had done, and her agreeing to not wash off his scent before her body had had a chance to 'absorb' it was proof enough of that. Plus, it had made him so _happy_...and really all that mattered to her above anything else was Inuyasha's happiness. Even if she were never allowed to bathe ever again she would still choose to be with Inuyasha. Certainly they could work around it...if she ever really _needed _to get clean then he'd just have to make sure she smelled of him all over again immediately afterward...

_Gah! Bad Kagome! _she mentally scolded herself at the random and somewhat perverted direction her thoughts had taken. Hoping her companion hadn't noticed the way she'd temporarily zoned out Kagome dunked under the water for a moment, scrubbing her hair; at least the hot water would be the perfect excuse to explain away her flushed cheeks when she resurfaced.

Sango had in fact not noticed the way Kagome's mind had wandered off, the slayer too preoccupied with her own thoughts as she worried about what would happen between the hanyou and miko once they got their memories back, but as Kagome came back up and slicked her hair back Sango did noticed the lingering, healing mark on the left side of her neck. Not immediately putting two and two together, and assuming the bruise had come from that battle with the tengu or some other youkai, she spoke up with a mild bit of concern in her voice as she asked, "Are you all right, Kagome-chan? That looks like it was a nasty bruise."

Flushing even darker, beyond what she could blame on the hot water, Kagome reached her left hand up and self-consciously covered the hickey, before chuckling nervously and lamely confessing, "Uh...it's not a bruise."

Sango's brow creased in confusion for only the briefest of moments before her eyes opened wider as realization dawned, and a deeper shade of pink tinted her own cheeks.

"Oh..." was all she could manage to say in reply.

A few minutes of awkward silence went by after that, and then it was actually Kagome who finally braved broaching the subject, the miko having spent the last couple of minutes arguing with herself that she had absolutely nothing to feel embarrassed about. If she was more than willing to broadcast it to all the youkai of the world, then why couldn't she openly talk about it with her human friend? It didn't make any sense. And it wasn't because of the spell she was under; the female taijiya did not feel like a stranger to her. Just as she'd been drawn to Inuyasha from the beginning, she could also immediately tell, now that the two of them were alone like that, that she and this woman were actually really good friends; she could tell her anything.

"You can ask me about it, you know." the miko stated then, earning surprised eyes from the slayer who immediately turned to meet Kagome's gaze, her own gaze silently questioning herself whether or not she'd heard the miko right.

Reading that thought in her eyes, Kagome nodded, confirming.

"From how surprised you looked when Shippou-chan blurted it out it's clear it must have come as quite a shock, for some reason, and you're probably worried about how I'm going to feel about it after I get my memories back, too, if it was so surprising, so unbelievable that it had happened." Kagome logically guessed. "But while I can't answer how I'm going to feel after I get my memories back, I can definitely tell you how I feel about it right now; I'm not ashamed, and I don't regret it."

Suddenly finding herself wishing for some cool water to drunk into for a moment as she felt her face flame even hotter, Sango mentally shook her head at herself, realizing that Kagome was actually being very mature about this and that she was being the silly one.

"It's not that I'm uncomfortable talking about it." Sango wished to clarify then. "In fact, a part of me had always kind of entertained the idea that one day we would be discussing such things in this very setting. I would have loved under any other circumstance to learn that you and Inuyasha had finally admitted your feelings for one another, even including expressing those feelings physically. It's no secret to me that you two love each other very deeply, but..."

Biting her lower lip, she was unsure of how to continue, but Kagome seemed to sense where she was going with it and correctly guessed, "But it was a secret to us?"

Hesitating for only a brief moment, Sango nodded.

"How is it that we both loved each other so deeply but were unaware of each other's feelings?" Kagome just had to ask, honestly perplexed by the notion. "Even not knowing who we _were _we were aware of our feelings for each other."

Sango continued to chew her lower lip at that one, not wanting to have to tell Kagome about Kikyou. She knew that the young miko was in fact aware of the fact that Inuyasha had some kind of feelings for her; the problem was that she was convinced he had _stronger _feelings for _Kikyou_, and that even if he did in fact _love _her he still loved Kikyou _more_. Sango also wasn't as convinced as Miroku was that Inuyasha's feelings for Kikyou were completely gone. She did personally believe that his feelings for Kagome surpassed his feelings for Kikyou, but it was clear to her that he had trouble letting go of the past. She didn't honestly think that he wanted to be with Kikyou as she was now, an animated corpse, but she did get the impression that he sometimes wished things could have been different between them, fantasizing about what could have been. That wasn't to say that he didn't wish for a future with Kagome, though; Sango felt that Inuyasha probably misguidedly believed that fantasies about Kikyou were the only ones he could have because thinking about what _could have been _was less of a stretch than longing for what _could never be_. He probably didn't think he had a potential future with Kagome to fantasize _about_ because of the fact that the miko was from the future, and as such she would certainly be returning to her own time after the mission was over with and he would therefore never see her again, even though Sango knew for a fact that Kagome would give up her life in her time, even her entire family, if it meant getting to actually _be _with Inuyasha, as his woman. They'd had that particular discussion before, during a previous soak in that very same hot spring, no less. Sango had asked the future-born miko what she would do, as they'd been discussing her supposedly unrequited love for the inu-hanyou. Sango had asked Kagome what her plans were if, just _if_, it turned out Inuyasha really _did _feel the same way and _did _want to be with her. Kagome had told Sango that she would gladly live in the past if the two of them could actually be together, although she'd immediately gone on to state that she felt that that outcome was slim to none in the likelihood department. Sango had secretly been hoping that Inuyasha was spying on them from somewhere within earshot, but no such luck. His lack of change in behavior had quickly indicated that he hadn't heard a single word of the girls' crucial conversation.

Now, as she stared at the young miko who was waiting less and less patiently for an answer as her facial expression grew more and more troubled, Sango sighed, and confessed lamely, "It's complicated, but there are reasons for you to believe that while he does have feelings for you, he has other...obligations...that take precedence."

Quickly continuing before Kagome could think to ask if another person were actually involved with those 'obligations' in any way, figuring out for herself that there was a love-triangle at work, Sango added, "And I also think he may have been holding his true feelings back for fear that the two of you were simply not meant to be, because of you being from another world. He's probably certain that you will be returning to your own time for good once the Shikon no Tama is completed and purified."

Kagome had in fact been about to say something in reply to the first half of Sango's comment, but after the slayer added that second part Kagome closed her mouth with an audible click. She had no idea what his supposed 'obligations' were, although she felt something uneasy settling in the pit of her stomach at the thought, like she was remembering the emotions she usually felt whenever thinking about whatever that issue was, but regardless of that unpleasantness Sango did make a very good point when it came to the fact that she was, apparently, from the future. Kagome felt in her heart that she could be perfectly happy living in that time, the Sengoku jidai, with Inuyasha by her side, although she could also agree that it was unfair to so easily toss her family aside while she couldn't even remember them. She shouldn't make such a rash decision in her current frame of mind and should really wait until after getting her memories back, she conceded then.

Shaking her head at the mess of it all, Kagome was starting to get the impression that loving Inuyasha had been a dream of hers for quite some time now, but one she had not honestly thought would ever come true, regardless of how badly she might have wanted it. Now that they _had _actually slept together, though, she refused to fall back into their apparent previous game of 'let's not talk about our feelings even though they're obvious to everyone around us'. If Sango was telling her now that she had already known from before how deeply she was in love with the hanyou, and how deeply Inuyasha loved her in return, then Kagome couldn't think of one reason why the two of them couldn't make it work, regardless of whatever other obligations or responsibilities they had to take care of in their lives. If her main hangup had been because she'd feared that he hadn't actually loved her as strongly as she loved him then that hurdle was already cleared, because now they both knew that they did in fact love each other. And perhaps Inuyasha had had a similar hangup, not knowing that _her _feelings ran as deeply as they did, and he had been reluctant to confess his love to her for that reason, believing _his _feelings were one-sided.

Now, they both knew the truth.

Kagome fully believed Inuyasha's sincerity when he'd told her how strongly he felt drawn to her as well, knowing that he must love her, that he felt in his heart that all he needed was her, and so whatever – or whoever – this other obligation was, perhaps he had previously been trying to keep his feelings for her hidden for her own sake because of it, from some twisted sense of honor. Why let her know he returned her love if they couldn't be together regardless, right? And maybe he'd honestly thought that they _couldn't _be together, because regardless of his feelings for her this other obligation would simply not allow him the time for such happiness. She refused to accept that possible outcome, of course, although she believed it was a possible explanation, but just because he'd _thought _they couldn't make it work because of whatever else he had going on in his life, just because he'd _thought _that not letting her know he shared her feelings was the right thing to do, that was before _this _mess, and now that the cat was out of the bag...or dog...then denial and pretending obviously wouldn't work anymore. Kagome knew she was debating in a vacuum when it came to most of the details that Sango was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of discussing and so she wouldn't ask, but nodding to herself in determination Kagome silently vowed to herself in that moment that no matter _what, _she and Inuyasha would find a way to make it work. Even if they really couldn't be together just yet, even if their relationship really did have to wait, that was still perfectly all right with her, just so long as they each knew they loved each other. She would wait for him, however long he needed her to, until his other obligations were taken care of.

Deciding to change the subject, then, since there was really no point in running all of the various what-ifs around and around in her head, knowing she wouldn't get any answers until the spell was broken, Kagome spoke back up with, "I guess the best thing to do is just wait and see what we actually remember once Kaede-sama restores our memories, and then we'll go from there."

Visibly relieved that the miko wasn't going to badger her for any more answers, Sango thought about it for a moment, and then decided it was her turn to ask the questions, as she suddenly turned into the girlfriend Kagome felt in her heart that she really was as she slyly, and with a wink, asked her about her night with Inuyasha.

Laughing instead of blushing, Kagome's expression took on a starry-eyed, far off look as she happily relayed the story with more pure love for the hanyou in her voice than Sango could recall hearing from the girl in quite some time. It was actually rather refreshing, this new Kagome who had no worries about where she lied in the hanyou's heart, and Sango sincerely hoped that the miko wouldn't lose her newfound confidence with the lifting of this spell. To learn how open and honest she and Inuyasha had been regarding their attraction to one another from almost the very beginning, that attraction turning into a sexual desire that neither of them had seen any point in resisting, the slayer couldn't help but think how hopelessly romantic the whole story sounded, Kagome's night with Inuyasha almost perfect. Of course, she didn't pressure the 21st century miko to spill the more _intimate _details of their night alone in the village, but Kagome voluntarily shared a _few_ things that had the slayer blushing all over again. A nasty little part in the back of Sango's mind that she prayed Miroku never found out existed was sorely tempted to ask Kagome for a more physical description of the hanyou, but ultimately she decided to let it go, and with their conversation fizzling out it was time to scrub and head back to camp.

In that same moment, at said campsite, Miroku was presently rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head, the houshi having learned the hard way that the surly, private Inuyasha he'd known before was still in there if pressured too hard. The hanyou had seemed more laid back and open with his feelings than usual and so Miroku had thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to question him about his night with Kagome, _specifically _wanting the more intimate details, but Inuyasha had only snorted and crossed his arms, stating that it was none of his business. The hanyou didn't want any other males thinking about _his _Kagome in such a way.

At first Miroku had conceded, and backpedaling he had asked, from a place of genuine curiosity, how it was that the two of them had even ended up being together at all. Though it was a little embarrassing to talk about such things, Inuyasha had reluctantly admitted to himself that he supposed the monk was within his rights to be curious, especially knowing what he'd overheard the holy man discussing with the kitsune, even though Miroku didn't know Inuyasha had heard that conversation. So he'd openly admitted, then, about how drawn to Kagome he'd felt, and about how he knew in his heart that she was the only thing that _really _mattered to him, stressing the word on purpose to indicate that he presently had no thoughts or feelings regarding this other woman, whoever the hell she was. All that mattered to him was Kagome, and it was easy for him to know that he loved her, and had in fact loved her prior to losing his memories, because it was definitely more than just a physical attraction he felt for her now, although he would be lying if he tried to say he didn't find her physically attractive, too.

Miroku, in his skillful way, had quickly managed to bring the conversation back around to their intimate night in the village, but Inuyasha had once again told him that _those _details were none of his damn business, and when the houshi had continued to pester him, begging for Inuyasha to give him _something, _almost like a kid asking for sweets, the hanyou had finally gotten fed up with it and pounded him one.

"Serves you right." Shippou mumbled quietly, flashing the hanyou a look that assured the older youkai that _he _most definitely did _not _want to know the more intimate details, before giving Miroku a look that told the monk he was lucky Kagome wasn't herself right now otherwise he would be in _big _trouble for trying to discuss such things with Inuyasha, and especially in front of a 'child'.

Yes, Shippou knew what sex was, and despite his small stature he was old enough to actually find girls attractive, himself, but Shippou didn't think that way about _Kagome _and while he was happy for her, provided Inuyasha didn't turn into a baka after getting his memories back, he didn't want the mental picture. It was bad enough that his nose had already pretty much told him the whole story. Shaking his head, Shippou resumed playing with his top, spinning it without enlarging it. It still took concentration and kitsune magic to get it to spin so perfectly on the soft, forest floor.

A few minutes later, when two fully sated and shampooed women slowly returned to camp, their arrival was greeted by Shippou first, who looked up from what he was doing to call out his welcome back to the girls. Miroku appeared to be in deep meditation, sitting quietly against the base of a tree with his shakujou resting against his shoulder, and Sango suspected all was not as innocent as it appeared with that picture, but she would let the matter go as she observed the way Inuyasha openly smiled at Kagome's murmured greeting, the hanyou standing up and heading over their way.

Offering Sango a brief nod to politely acknowledge her presence, Inuyasha then closed the gap between himself and the miko, making no effort to hide the way he inhaled deeply, taking in and analyzing her scent. She smelled clean and fresh, wholly of Kagome on the surface with all of the various scents of the forest washed away, and that was actually a good thing. Then, as he delved deeper, truly picking apart the subtle nuances of her scent, it didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for, _himself,_ and that was a _very _good thing. Buried beneath her hair products and deodorant, beyond the fabric of her clothing, was the subtle and yet obvious scent of their joining. His seed was breaking down, unused, but much of it was still within her, and would remain so for quite some time. Her body was no longer fully covered in his scent the way it had been before, but that would be remedied in part when he carried her on his back again tomorrow. It was still obvious to the youkai of the world that she was his, it was simply also obvious that she'd bathed since their last joining, but there was nothing wrong with that and he gave her another smile in that moment to let her know that he was pleased with what her scent was telling him.

Besides, _he _had _no _intention of bathing, at least just yet. As time went on he wouldn't obsess over it so much; obviously the two of them would need to get clean from time to time and re-scent-marking each other afterwards could become something fun to look forward to, but for right now he wanted to preserve the scent of their intimacy that he presently still wore on his skin. It brought him comfort, and the bits and pieces of their friends' conversations that he'd managed to overhear were still causing him worry, a feeling that was getting stronger the closer they got to he and Kagome getting their memories back. Just on the off chance that he would totally freak out upon remembering whatever the hell it was that he'd apparently thought was _so _damn important that he'd had to keep his feelings for Kagome to himself because of it, then Inuyasha wanted to still be covered in her scent at that time so that he would then be able to use it to calm himself back down if need be, and also to help remind himself of much more recent, and in his present frame of mind, much more _important _issues. No matter what his other obligations were, nothing was more important to him, no duty greater, than making sure he didn't fuck things up with Kagome.

Unaware of his current thoughts on the matter, said miko smiled as well in that moment, before telling him invitingly just how nice the hot spring had actually been, suggesting that he, Miroku and Shippou take their turn as well since surely they could use it just as much as she and Sango had. Opening his eyes, Miroku rose to his feet at Kagome's words, agreeing that the chance to get clean was indeed too good to pass up. Inuyasha politely declined, however.

"You two go ahead, then." he stated to the monk and kitsune, little Shippou having also agreed that a quick bath would feel good.

Kagome suspected she knew Inuyasha's reason for opting to skip the bath, but chose not to say anything on the matter as she ducked behind the trees with her pajamas in hand. She reemerged a couple of minutes later dressed for bed, and settled down quickly enough, Sango tending to their campfire. The monk and kitsune returned around twenty minutes later, and it didn't take long for everyone to call it a night, Inuyasha agreeing to keep watch again. That night would be the last he'd have to go in a row without sleeping, as they estimated they'd reach Kaede's village sometime before nightfall the following evening. The hanyou had no idea how hectic things might become for them in that village, and what all would be involved with Kaede reversing the spell he and Kagome were under, but with them no longer being out in the woods and in possible danger from a rouge youkai attack one thing Inuyasha did know was that he would take advantage of the opportunity to get a good night's sleep, and hopefully with Kagome in his arms.

oooOooo

The next morning was pretty much a repeat of the previous day, as Inuyasha hunted another large rabbit for everyone to share for breakfast, and then packing up camp they got back on the road, or rather, took to the skies. Kagome briefly wondered if Inuyasha actually had the ability to alter gravity around himself as some pure youkai could do, as Kirara could do, as he almost seemed to fly through the air himself as he followed after the others atop the nekomata. He wasn't actually flying, of course, but in Kagome's opinion he came just about as close as any non-flying creature could do, touching down on the high branches almost weightlessly between leaps that were far too precise for a non-magical being to accomplish.

He _was _magical, and there was no way that Kagome could forget that fact, and the fact that he wanted _her _was like a fantasy come true, apparently in more ways than one. She was starting to feel the tiniest bit apprehensive regarding what would happen between them once they got their memories back, but she still fully believed that they _were _meant to be together. Everything happened for a reason, right?

The rest of the morning passed by fairly uneventfully, with each member of the Inu-tachi lost in their own thoughts as they raced towards Musashi. Worries and concerns for the future were quickly put on the back burner, though, when they ran into another small bout of youkai trouble around mid-day. Fortunately the lowly creature was dispatched easily enough, and the rest of the journey was again spent peacefully, or as peacefully as it could be with the growing sensation of butterflies Kagome had in her stomach. Inuyasha wasn't much better off, once again overhearing the conversation of their friends above, although this time their talk revolved more around an apparent enemy of theirs named Naraku and their concern regarding how long he would stay in hiding. Apparently this Naraku guy, whose name Inuyasha recognized from the day before as the one he needed to protect that Kikyou woman from, was quite a formidable foe and somebody the others did _not _want he and Kagome to face off against while they were in their current frame of mind. Inuyasha was inclined to agree. Whoever this guy was, he sounded like serious bad news, and with the others voicing their concerns regarding what the dark hanyou might possibly do should he become aware of his and Kagome's current condition, Inuyasha knew he did _not _want to risk finding out. Hopefully this Kaede person would be able to reverse the spell in short order.

With that last thought in mind, Inuyasha did his best to tune the others out and concentrate on the simple pleasure that was Kagome's nearness. As anxious as he was to get his memories back, he was also undeniably nervous, although with a nemesis as powerful as this Naraku person out there somewhere he definitely agreed that they needed to get their memories back as quickly as possible, despite the blissful ignorance that had been he and the miko's relationship prior to finding their friends. So he wouldn't dillydally; as soon as a cure was available he would take it immediately, consequences be damned. In the meantime, though, he wanted to savor these last few moments with the miko while his heart remained unclouded.

It was a sensation the miko was enjoying as well, _his _nearness bringing _her_ a feeling of peace and contentment. While Kagome didn't share all of Inuyasha's current worries, her human ears having been unable to pick up the others' talks about Kikyou and Naraku, the future-born miko was still starting to feel a little anxious, a few more butterflies hatching in her stomach the closer they got to the finish line. Her growing anxiety mostly revolved around their friends' reactions to the knowledge that she and Inuyasha had slept together, as she worried more and more about what her own thoughts on the matter would become once she got her memories back, but regardless of her newfound level of closeness with Inuyasha being the source of her trepidation, in a way, his closeness, and knowing that he was there for her no matter what, was also what was calming her back down again. She was certain that his head was in just as much of a whirl, but no matter _what _they had to be there for each other; they had sworn that they would be there for each other and she did not believe he was the type to go back on his word, no matter what they ended up remembering. She imagined it might feel a little like waking up after a night of too much drinking, if she ended up getting that cliché 'Oh God, what have I done?' feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she wouldn't let that momentary regret be the end all be all to their relationship. Right now, as of that moment in time as they raced over the landscape, she _wanted _to be with Inuyasha, and she couldn't honestly fathom that feeling ever changing. It was a feeling she'd obviously had from the beginning, from before she'd lost her memories, or logically she wouldn't be feeling that way now, either, since she didn't even really _know _him outside of that unexplained feeling of closeness to him she felt in her heart. So knowing that regardless of where their relationship had lied before all of this had happened she really had, and really did love him, she was sure the rest would work itself out.

Or at least, she hoped it would.

And that was a feeling shared by the rest of the Inu-tachi as they continued to race back to Kaede's village at Kirara and Inuyasha's top speed. Going for so long at such speeds was a little difficult for Kirara, since despite being a youkai she was still a _cat _and as such she was really designed more for quick bursts of speed rather than long-distance travel, but she was pushing herself in that moment, the nekomata also understanding the severity of the situation and knowing that she needed to lead the hanyou and miko back to Kaede's as quickly as possible. Plus she was still looking forward to all the yummy treats from the future Kagome was sure to gift her with as her reward for a job well done. She wasn't doing it _only_ for the treats, of course, and would most certainly be giving it her all regardless, but the treats were sure a nice bonus. Licking her lips, she pushed it even faster, Inuyasha easily keeping up.

Fortunately, the group only ran into a two more mildly troublesome youkai throughout the afternoon, and then finally, at long last, with the evening sun hanging low in the sky Kaede's village came into view.

Inuyasha and Kagome both marveled at the lack of reaction most of the villagers gave to their hasty approach, as if they were used to seeing the group coming and going and a fiery, flying saber tooth and brightly dressed inu-hanyou were nothing worth gaping at in surprise. In fact, some of the farmers waved pleasantly before getting back to work, as if their arrival from the forest was no less common than a tradesman heading into town along the beaten path. Their reactions certainly added validity to what Miroku and Sango had said about this village being a regular resting place of theirs, not that either Inuyasha or Kagome had doubted their word before, but it was still a funny sight to see, how _normally _everyone treated their appearance. The hanyou and miko also couldn't ignore just how incredibly familiar this village seemed to them, unlike the other village where they had stayed the night and been treated like heroes. They had been unfamiliar with that village, needing the headman to guide them and show them which buildings were which, but somehow, in _this _village, they felt like they already _knew _its layout. In fact, as the nekomata touched down and he and Kagome began walking behind the others towards Kaede's hut, Inuyasha was sure that he could probably walk there by himself, as if he just somehow already knew exactly where they were going. He still let the others lead the way, though, as he tucked his hands into his sleeves and tried to act nonchalant despite the way his gut was doing flip flops, an equally nervous Kagome walking as calmly as possible beside him. He wanted to hold her hand, but figured logically that such a public display of affection might just garner the shocked reactions the villagers hadn't given them at their initial arrival. The last thing he wanted to do was make anything unnecessarily more awkward for themselves, and so he kept his arms crossed to avoid temptation.

"Kaede-sama, we have a matter most urgent to attend to." Miroku began as he entered the elderly miko's hut first, the woman in the middle of preparing an evening stew for herself.

"Goodness. And what is this matter, Houshi-sama?" Kaede asked as she looked up from her cooking, the others filing into the hut behind him.

Everyone quickly took turns explaining the situation, starting with Miroku and Sango although Inuyasha and Kagome chimed in themselves at times. The entire matter was explained to the elderly miko, minus of course the more _intimate _details of their night alone at the oni village. Kagome was the one to tell that part of the story, of how she and Inuyasha had made their way back to the oni village, and that after being offered a place to sleep as well as dinner and breakfast they were then off the next morning in search of the others, who they thankfully found later that same day. For once Miroku had no desire to embarrass the pair, or maybe he just feared another whack to the back of the head, but either way he wisely chose to give no indication that Kagome had left certain things out of her retelling as he picked up the story where she left off, stating how he and Sango had found them, and what his and the slayer's shared beliefs were regarding the exact nature of the spell they were under.

Listening to the tale with her one good eye growing wider and wider in surprise as the story progressed, Kaede murmured a quietly spoken "Merciful kami..." once the story was completed, rising to her feet and moving to examine the hanyou and younger miko. Turning Kagome's face gently from side to side with her fingers under her chin, so that Kaede could look into the young girl's eyes and better read her aura, the elderly miko then stated that she agreed with the others. Their memories were still there, merely sealed away, and it was a seal that was fully removable.

Kagome and Inuyasha both exhaled in relief, smiling each other's way as Kagome reached over and clasped Inuyasha's hand for a moment. Rather than seeming either annoyed or embarrassed by her show of affection he repeated it, lifting his other hand to place on top of hers as well, a smile in his eyes and on his lips as he nodded. She nodded as well, as if the two were mutually congratulating each other for having survived something so perilous, before they finally released each other and Kagome asked the older miko what all was involved with curing them.

Watching the exchange in mild surprise and curiosity, Kaede supposed it made sense that if Inuyasha had forgotten _all _about his past he would therefore not have returned to the gruff man he had been prior to Kagome's calming influence in his life, but instead, he would be the kind man Kaede too suspected had resided somewhere deep within him all along, the man who had had to create a wall of stone around his heart only because of the horrible way he'd been treated his entire life. It was still a mild shock to see he and the young miko acting so affectionately, though, and Kaede wondered in that moment if the feelings she knew the two of them shared for one another had also blossomed during this adventure, with neither of them possessing any knowledge as to why such feelings should supposedly be denied, but she wisely chose not to comment on that possibility as she proceeded to answer Kagome's question.

"It will take me a little over an hour to prepare, but I do believe I have the necessary ingredients on hand to brew a tea that will remedy this situation by morning." Kaede stated then, inviting the others to join her for dinner as she added more water and ingredients to her stew pot.

Asking Kagome to take over watching the stew, which the young miko gladly agreed to do, Kaede then headed over to her cabinet of herbs and potions used for removing bad magic from one's system. Getting another, smaller cooking pot and more water to boil, Kaede quietly began mixing herbs, mumbling a few small chants from time to time. Kagome remained quiet as she tended to the stew close by, not wanting to distract the elderly miko; she could feel the woman's spiritual powers as well as the magic she was infusing into the strange smelling tea.

When dinner was ready everyone ate in companionable silence, the tea steeping, and after dinner was through Kaede poured the tea for Kagome and Inuyasha, instructing them both to drink it all down despite it's rather unpleasant flavor. She explained that it had an element that would aid them in falling asleep in short order, repairing their minds while they slept so that when they awoke, probably sometime in the late morning, the seals would be gone, their memories fully restored. She also reassured, upon Kagome's hesitate inquiry, that they would not lose the memories of all that had transpired over the last few days. Her spell was designed only to lift the veil that had already been draped over their minds' eyes, not to replace it with a another one. The young miko's question made Kaede even more curious regarding what might have transpired between the pair during this experience, but she knew it was not her place to ask such things, and so as they both drank down their teas with scrunched up faces she mentally offered a silent prayer that whatever had happened between them, it would not make things more awkward for the two once they got their identities back. She hoped that instead, it would help them to remain closer together. In her opinion, those two were meant for one another.

"Bleh, that crap tasted even worse than it smelled." Inuyasha grumbled as Kagome went about gathering her pajamas, giggling a little at his comment.

"That's how you know it's real medicine." the future-born miko countered, ducking behind the screen in the back to change into her bed clothes. She was desperately trying not to let the butterflies in her stomach take over. What was done was done and come morning, for better or worse, she would be herself again.

She was surprised when, as she stepped back into the main room with her school uniform in hand, Inuyasha was right in front of her.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, taken aback by the look in his eyes.

Suddenly, he pulled her into a hug, which caused all of the other occupants of the room to gape in surprise and quickly find a fascinating floor board to study.

"No matter what, just know that I love you." he whispered into her ear so quietly that only Shippou also heard him, and the kitsune did nothing to betray Inuyasha's privacy, smiling to himself a little bit that maybe, just maybe, the hanyou wouldn't be a baka and hurt Kagome after all.

His words didn't bring Kagome as much comfort as he would've liked, as the hanyou scented the spike in her anxiety, but he'd suspected the reassurance might make her nervous tonight, as she wondered just _why _he'd felt the need to reassure her so. Hopefully his words would be more comforting for her come morning. Figuring there was nothing he could do at that point but wait and see, Inuyasha watched as Kagome put her day clothes away and pulled out her sleeping bag. He then proceeded to shock everyone else in the hut yet again as he settled down on the floor right beside her. He _wanted _to hold the young miko in his arms but he would wait until the others were settled down as well to make the adjustment, not quite feeling comfortable enough to do so with so many eyes upon them.

Sango and Miroku took the hint that it was bed time quickly enough, as they swiftly went about setting up their own sleep rolls for the night, while Kaede bid everyone goodnight and retired to her private sleeping room in the back. Once the hut was quiet, the food dishes put away and the fire properly stacked and banked, Inuyasha shifted and cuddled himself up against the miko, although he kept himself on the outside of her sleeping bag. He didn't want to totally scandalize their friends, but since everyone except for the old miko already knew they'd slept together he didn't really see the big deal as he draped his arm over Kagome's body, pulling her into a loose, spooning embrace with the material of her sleeping bag between them. He couldn't feel much when it came to the shape of her body pressed against his own, unfortunately, but he _could_ still tuck his nose into the crook of her neck, and that was the most important part as far as he was concerned, at least since they wouldn't be doing anything _else _with an audience present. Inhaling deeply, he found her scent even more soothing than usual, or maybe it was that tea already starting to knock him out, but either way, especially after having stayed up the last two nights in a row, Inuyasha had no trouble falling asleep that night, Kagome's even breaths indicating that she had drifted off fairly quickly as well.

"What do you think?" Miroku whispered to Sango on the other side of the room, his voice slightly amused.

"I think we should give them their privacy in the morning, and duck out at first light before they wake." the slayer answered, her tone quiet but still leaving no room for argument.

Although a part of him would love to bear witness to the pair's conversation in the morning, Miroku reluctantly acknowledged that Sango was right, replying with a somewhat disappointed "Agreed."

"You better, otherwise Inuyasha 'n' I'll _both _pound you." Shippou chimed in. "He needs his chance to not mess this up."

Kirara softly mewed her own agreement.

_I'm so misunderstood_ ... Miroku thought to himself, before offering his own silent prayer that all would go right for their friends come tomorrow.


	7. We need to talk

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Chapter 7 – We need to talk

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Kagome awoke slowly, rolling over onto her back with a hoarse groan escaping her dry lips. Cracking her eyes open, she quickly closed them again, squinting against the bright sunlight that was pouring in through the window. Her mouth tasted like regurgitated lawnmower clippings, and her head felt like somebody was trying to pry it open with the Jaws of Life. If she was going to wake with such a killer hangover shouldn't she have at least gotten to enjoy a night of drunken partying first?

_Oh gods_ ... she thought in dismay, draping an arm across her forehead as the memories of all that had transpired over the last few days came rushing back to her, along with the rest of her previously suppressed memories.

Hearing an echo of Inuyasha's last words of reassurance from the night before, his guarantee that no matter what, he loved her, she forced her eyes back open and glanced around the room.

She was by herself.

_Is it really any wonder, though? _ she thought, not willing to be angry with him over this. If she were him, she probably wouldn't have stuck around, either.

She could feel his youki, so he was clearly somewhere close by, and that knowledge was mildly comforting, to know that he hadn't taken off into the forest, needing to get away from her completely, but still, his absence within the hut spoke volumes. Forcing herself to sit up with a mild grunt of achy muscles, Kagome felt momentarily disoriented but quickly found that the woozy feeling and migraine were dissipating, thank goodness. Whatever Kaede had put in that tea to help her sleep, it'd certainly done its job, as she judged the time based on the sunlight she could see out the window to be somewhere around late morning, at least two or three hours after sunrise. Everyone had clearly decided to leave her be, alone to her thoughts, and she supposed she was grateful for that because she wasn't so sure she would've wanted Sango or Miroku, or even Kaede, to be there with her in that moment, asking her how she was feeling. The aftereffects of the tea were fading quickly enough, but despite feeling okay physically, mentally she felt like crap.

Now, Inuyasha, on the other hand, she actually wouldn't have minded seeing. If he'd been there to greet her, looking perhaps embarrassed but nonetheless determined to work this out with her, that would've actually made her feel ten times better. His absence solidified for her how _he _had to be feeling in that moment. She wasn't surprised that he'd woken before her; sleep aid or no sleep aid he was hanyou and simply didn't _need _as much sleep as her, so surely when the others had tried to tiptoe out of the hut their shuffling had disturbed him, with his superior hearing, and he along with everyone else had then decided to leave Kagome alone so that she could rest longer. A fine gesture on the surface, but really, it was only delaying the inevitable, since they still had jewel shards to find and Naraku to kill. The two of them would have to deal with this _eventually_. Him leaving her alone like this, it was probably just to buy some time, so that he could try to figure out what to say, but that had to mean that he was trying to figure out how to put her down gently without hurting her feelings any more than necessary, right? If he really did still want to be with her then surely he would've been there to greet her, wearing a huge grin and immediately gushing reassurances that he did in fact still love her and that nothing had changed. There was no reason to leave her alone if that were the case, which clearly meant it was not.

Not that she would've expected it to be.

_Oh kami_ ..._what have we done? _

Everything was ruined now. All her plans, all her pretending... No matter what, Inuyasha still had an obligation to Kikyou, and it hurt so much to know that there was no way he could ignore that, ignore his true love. Yes, Kagome did remember Inuyasha's words, that no matter what, he loved _her_, but he hadn't been thinking clearly when he'd uttered those words. She believed him, though, at least to a point. Looking back on it, Kagome knew how _she'd_ felt, how the love she felt for him had shown through, even despite not knowing who he was at the time, and so she believed that the feelings of love he'd claimed to feel for her in return had to be genuine, in a way. There clearly had to be _some_ kind of feelings there. Even Sango had told her, during their soak in that hot spring, of how she'd known the _both _of them had feelings for _each other_, acknowledging Inuyasha's love for her, although the taijiya had clearly been hesitant to tell the then memory-deprived miko the details regarding Kikyou. Sango had said that she did believe Inuyasha loved her, but also that he had 'obligations' that took precedence, to excuse why he'd never confessed his feelings. To know now that he did in fact love her, in some way or another, was a bittersweet revelation at best for the future-born miko, knowing that even though he actually did love her he still loved Kikyou more. His absence in that moment proved it. It was just that without his memories of Kikyou at that time he hadn't been able to remember how the tender way he loved her as a friend mixed with some healthy physical attraction paled in comparison to the true love he felt for the undead miko deep in his soul. Something that just had to be tearing him up inside, now, and Kagome felt guilt on top of her own heartache because of that realization, wishing she could take his pain away even more than her own. This was precisely what she'd never wanted to let happen, them losing themselves in the heat of the moment only to regret it later. Sure, neither of them were really to blame, what with the actual way it'd happened, but that didn't make what'd happened any less wrong, or the situation they now faced any less painful.

Sure, he'd claimed that it hadn't felt like anything was missing at that time, when he'd spoken of his feelings for her, but how many times had they not known in advance if something was familiar to them or not until after it'd happened? Hell, that was the entire nature of the spell they'd been under! How the hell was he supposed to have remembered Kikyou, then, without her having actually _been _there to then provide that déjà vu reminder? They certainly hadn't had an inkling that they had any other companions who traveled with them until after Kagome had dreamt of them, and she'd had absolutely no suspicions that she might have a family somewhere out there whom she missed terribly, her mother, brother and grandfather never once crossing her mind even as the faintest of whispers against her soul. Just like Inuyasha, it hadn't felt like anything was 'missing' to her, either, even as she'd known logically that there had to be _something _beyond just he and her out in the forest, especially since she was wearing a school uniform. But even that hadn't mattered; even thumbing through her math book had failed to invoke feelings of trepidation or urgency when it came to her grades, no feeling of 'oh shit, I need to get back to school!' popping into her mind. So then surely there was no way Inuyasha could've been expected to remember Kikyou out of thin air, with nothing to go on. Kagome fully believed that if one of the undead miko's shinidamachuu had chosen that moment to show itself that Inuyasha would've immediately felt drawn to it, realizing on a subconscious level that he needed to follow it, trusting his heart that would've surely told him that something fabulous was waiting for him where the creature would lead.

To know now that he was in fact physically attracted to her, and apparently even cared for her as _more _than a friend, to have been so absolutely convinced at the time that he loved her, that knowledge did want to make the edges of Kagome's lips lift in a small smile, but at the end of the day it didn't really matter, because at best he was simply torn between his feelings for her and Kikyou, like any man who had a steady relationship but also another girl on the side. Kagome could easily accept and believe that he simply loved them both, in a way. At worst, though, it was possible that Sango was wrong, and he didn't really see her that way at all, loving her as a friend yes but nothing more than that, and her physical resemblance to Kikyou had simply been confusing his mind at the time. They did look alike, after all, and so then there he was, without any true memories, his nose telling him that she was familiar because of scent, because of them traveling together, and then to look upon her face he felt feelings of love for her, and so obviously he would think that those feelings must be for _her_, right? Nothing would've ever made him think in a million years that his true love was actually somebody else entirely who just happened to share her face.

Kagome wouldn't hold it against him, though. She wouldn't. Dragging herself out of her sleeping bag and going through the motions of getting dressed in that moment, she swore to herself on whatever little honor she had left that she would _not _be angry with Inuyasha for confusing her and Kikyou while under that spell, for using her. He hadn't _really_ usedher; not on purpose, anyway. He hadn't had sex with her while thinking about Kikyou. On a subconscious level, he'd had sex with her while thinking she _was _Kikyou, and that was different. He hadn't done it on purpose, and she just knew the guilt had to be tearing him up inside, on all levels, so she would _not _make it worse by being a bitch to him about it, driving the knife in his gut even deeper and twisting it. She would forgive him, assure him that she was still his friend, and do her best to move on from there and just put it behind her and not think about it any more.

They still had jewel shards to find and Naraku to kill, after all. After that, then, well...she didn't really want to think about what would happen after that. A part of her still worried he'd be joining Kikyou in Hell, although she desperately hoped it wouldn't come to that, and not just because she didn't want to lose him to Kikyou. She'd already lost him to Kikyou the minute the undead miko had been resurrected. No, she just didn't want him to descend into Hell because he didn't deserve it; he didn't deserve to give up his life for something that hadn't been his fault, for a death he hadn't caused. In her opinion he didn't owe Kikyou his life, but ultimately she knew that he would do whatever Kikyou asked of him so at that point she could only pray that Kikyou no longer wished to drag Inuyasha into Hell with her, accepting now that he was not to blame and that Naraku was the one who'd killed her. Kagome was pretty sure that was the case, as the few times they'd actually come across the undead miko as a group she'd spoken only of their need to get Naraku, and Inuyasha also swore that was all the two of them ever discussed during their private meetings as well, and Kagome also knew that Kikyou had tried to drag Inuyasha into Hell that one time _before _she'd learned of Naraku's existence, honestly believing at that time that Inuyasha had betrayed her, that all his talk of his feelings for her and agreeing to use the jewel to turn himself human had been a lie. Kagome knew she couldn't really blame Kikyou for her hatred of Inuyasha back then, believing what she'd believed, and so she prayed that the undead miko had put her hatred of Inuyasha behind her now, now that she knew the truth. Even though that would obviously mean the woman was more strongly driven by her feelings of _love _for him, now, Kagome would much rather give Inuyasha up to _live _with Kikyou than to _die _with her.

At least now, when Inuyasha rejected her to go be with Kikyou, she'd have her memory of their one night together to cherish forever. Was that selfish of her? Should she wish that it'd never happened, that that tengu had never robbed them of their memories? But wishing for such things wouldn't make them a reality, anyway, so since it _had _happened she might as well look back on their night together with happy thoughts, right? Even though his mind had probably been confused, and he'd probably been projecting the love he felt for Kikyou onto her because they shared the same face, he hadn't done it on purpose and if you really wanted to get technical, he really _had _loved _her, _sort of, at that moment in time at least. He'd thought at the time that it was her that he loved, and his words had been honest, from the heart. For one night in her life, Inuyasha had genuinely, truly loved her, and even though she was sure he regretted it now because it'd been a betrayal of Kikyou Kagome just couldn't fully bring herself to wish it'd never happened. Maybe that made her a bad person, but if Kikyou was going to get Inuyasha for the rest of their days after the quest was over then was it really so selfish that she was glad she'd been gifted with at least one special night to remember forever?

A few silent tears slipped down her cheeks but she stubbornly rubbed at her face, refusing to cry, refusing to let Inuyasha see that she'd been crying. That would only make him feel worse, guilty for hurting her on top of the guilt he undoubtedly felt for betraying Kikyou. The best thing Kagome could do for Inuyasha now, she knew, was to try her best to not be hurt by this. She'd give herself a few more minutes to compose herself, she decided then, as she sat down by the firepit and brought the slowly dwindling morning fire back to life some before then reaching for her backpack and getting out her hairbrush. It was her own means of buying time, but she needed it, and then, once she felt she was ready, she'd suck it up and go find him and get it over with, whatever 'it' was. If he didn't want to talk about it, if he told her only that she should just forget it'd ever happened, then while she'd silently disagree and cherish the memory forever she'd respect his wishes to never discuss it. If, on the other hand, he actually wanted to sit and talk things out with her, then she'd do that, too. Whatever he wanted. And she hadn't forgotten about what Sango had also said about how it was possible Inuyasha had been keeping his feelings to himself because she was from the future, either, because maybe because of that he believed there could be no future between them, what with them being from two different worlds and all. Hypothetically, if that turned out to be true, then she'd gladly tell him that she'd gladly _stay_ with him in his time, although she knew not to get her hopes up. Assuming he actually did want to talk things out rather than just clamming up and pretending there was nothing to discuss, Kagome had absolutely no idea what all that conversation would entail. It could be anything from a love confession to a breakup, but whatever happened, she wouldn't lose her cool, she vowed to herself in that moment. Whatever Inuyasha wanted, she'd convince herself it was what she wanted too, even if it wasn't, because what she wanted even _beyond _what she wanted was for Inuyasha to be okay with what'd happened between them, and she'd do whatever it took to help him get there. Things would be awkward between them for a while, she was sure, but hopefully they could eventually put it behind them and be friends again. She hated to think that this incident had possibly ruined their friendship forever. If he wanted to send her away, if he told her to just go back to her own time and stay there because he couldn't bear to look at her any more, a constant reminder of his biggest mistake, she didn't know _what_ she'd do.

A few more tears fell.

oooOooooooOooo

Sitting cross-legged on top of Kaede's roof, Inuyasha tilted his head back and glanced up at the sky, a million and one thoughts buzzing around through his head.

When he'd first woken up earlier that morning, to the whispered voices of the others as they'd tried their best to be quiet while going about their morning routine before slipping out of the hut, he'd remained where he was at first, pretending to still be asleep because he hadn't had the balls to face the others. He hadn't dared crack his eyes open and risk meeting concerned gazes, or worse, _accusative _gazes, as if they were daring him to do wrong by Kagome. For at least an hour after their departure he'd just lied there, beside the future-born miko, both willing her to wake and terrified of accidentally waking her at the same time. He was a coward, he knew, but the thing he feared the worst wasn't her anger, it was her sympathy. Her rejection.

What did she have to be angry about, after all? He hadn't _used_ her, and neither had she used him, he knew. They'd both just given in to their feelings and attraction for each other, so she could hardly pin all of the blame on his shoulders, like he'd seduced her against her will, not that he planned on trying to blame her, either, of course. It was both of their faults, and at the same time it was neither of their faults, but regardless of whose fault it was or wasn't he was _glad _it had happened, and he would cherish his memory of being with Kagome for the rest of his life.

It'd be the only thing he'd have left to keep himself sane after their mission was over and she left him for her world, for good.

Desperately trying not to think about _that_, Inuyasha did indeed remember the concerned whispers he'd overheard from their friends during the return trip to Kaede's village. Was it possible that the main reason Kagome'd never approached him about her feelings for him was actually because she thought he still harbored such feelings for _Kikyou?_ Kami, if he'd known that... Sure, he'd suspected it was possibleshe cared for him as more than a friend, but if he'd _known _she loved him like she apparently did and that she'd thought he loved _Kikyou_ then he would've made _damn _sure she knew where his heart really lied. If there was even the minutest, most remote possibility that she could _possibly _choose to stay with him in his time after the mission...

But he knew he couldn't go getting his hopes up like that, lifting himself up for a big let down. He'd thought for sure all this time that Kagome only thought of him as a good friend, and that sure, she might have what the people of her time would call a _crush_ on him, and she was clearly physically attracted to him, but with all her talk about school, her need to solidify for herself a place in her own world, a future for herself in her own century, then surely her feelings for him couldn't run _that _deeply, right? Or, even if they _did_, which he'd dared to fantasize on rare occasion, then he'd still figured that she hadn't wanted to say anything because, really, what would be the point? How cruel would it have been to tell him, knowing the kind of life he'd led, that here was a woman who actually did truly love him, but that it simply couldn't work out between them because she was from the future? If she'd still had no intention of staying with him, regardless of her feelings, then he could understand why even if she loved him she would've acted like she didn't, for his own sake, _because _she loved him and didn't want to hurt him. Looking at it _that_ way, Inuyasha could understand why she would've instead chosen to never say anything on the subject, probably silently cursing herself for having stupidly fallen in love with him in the first place when she knew damn well it couldn't work, and then in that case the last thing she would've wanted to do was let him know how she felt because if he would've turned around and begged her to stay with him – something he was sourly tempted to do – it would've been wholly unfair to Kagome. How could he proclaim to love her but then want to go and make her choose between himself and her family? His world and hers? That _wasn't _fair, and he wasn't enough of a selfish bastard to honestly think he had the right to force such a decision out of her.

Just like she had never forced him to choose between herself and Kikyou, only now...looking at it from the perspective of Kagome keeping her feelings for him to herself not because she was from another world, but because she thought he loved Kikyou...he shuddered at the thought of just how deeply their lack of communication could have fucked everything up. He wanted to bring that tengu back to life and thank him, before then killing him again of course, since the guy was an evil bastard after their jewel shards, but evil bastard or not his trickery had ultimately led to the best night of his life, and...hopefully...if he could get his head out of his ass long enough to keep his vow of not letting _anything _keep him from Kagome, including himself, then maybe...just maybe...his future wasn't destined to be quite so lonely, after all.

After all, what did he have, if he didn't have Kagome? If she really loved him as much as he now believed she did, from the true love he had been able to read in her eyes at that time, while under the influence of that tengu's magic, then he would gladly move to _her_ world with_ her_, if it came to that, problem solved. If, when he finally hardened his balls enough to go talk to her, she would cry and tell him how she'd never wanted to let him know how she felt because it just couldn't work, because she _had _to go back to her own world when everything was said and done despite her feelings, he'd pull her into an embrace and tell her that he wasn't willing to give her up so easily, and that even if it meant he had to wear funny clothes, and shoes, and that blasted hat, he'd do whatever it took to become a part of her world, instead, if she simply could not remain a part of his. And if she dared say anything about how he loved _Kikyou? _He'd cut that line of thinking off before she even got started, pulling her into a kiss before assuring her that his old feelings for Kikyou were long gone, and that he only owed it to her to protect her from Naraku and avenge her death, nothing more.

That was the plan, at least, although as he'd lied there beside her thinking all those things for the last hour or so, his stomach doing flip-flops and his heart trying to break out of his chest, he'd suddenly bolted like a coward at the first sign of the miko's waking, slipping silently up onto the hut's roof in a blind panic before consciousness had fully reached her. And now, even as he heard her shuffling around inside, and he knew all the things he wanted, _needed_ to say, he couldn't seem to make his body move.

_Feh, you're a fucking coward, you know that? _ he scolded himself bitterly, releasing a tired sigh.

Although, he supposed, the longer he waited the more awkward it was going to become, since Kagome certainly had to be wondering where he was by now, and while he wondered what she was actually thinking he could only imagine that at least some of her mind had to be occupied with wondering what _he _was thinking. He knew his Kagome, and she worried over his state of mind a lot; she always seemed to care whenever she felt he was being too down on himself, like that one time he'd flipped out and killed those bandits in his youkai form. What if she was worried that he ran off, all screwed up in the head even more than he really was, and too embarrassed to face her because he was usually so emotionally constipated? Okay, so she could probably feel his youki and knew he hadn't run off, but knowing he was nearby was probably making her even _more _worried as to why he hadn't yet shown himself. She'd probably correctly guessed that he was trying to psych himself up for their big talk, but in what way? That, she might've gotten wrong, not that he'd blame her. He remembered their first new moon together, vividly, and how he'd clammed up the next morning, trying to pretend he hadn't been all soft and lovey-dovey the night before. Being poisoned and dying was no excuse, he'd thought back then, so desperately trying to act tough to counteract what he'd seen as a weakness at the time. And so now, _how_ many times had he thrown the fucking L word around while affected by that blasted tengu's spell? Five? What if she feared he was going to deny it now? Deny his feelings? Or worse, try to pretend that nothing had happened at all? That was what the _others _apparently feared was going to happen, all that talk about 'doing the right thing' and not leaving Kagome in the dark regarding his feelings. Apparently Sango and Miroku, while they knew he loved Kagome, they thought he'd deliberately allowed the miko to think he cared more for Kikyou, and the only reasoning he could figure that made any sense was if it'd been as a means of emotional protection for himself, a wall he was trying to keep up around himself so as not to let Kagome in...because...why? Because his duty to Kikyou didn't permit him to be with Kagome romantically? That wasn't true, although maybe they thought it was. Maybe they thought Kikyou had forbad him from getting involved with Kagome like that, and so he was deliberately pretending to still harbor romantic feelings for the undead miko as a means of discouraging Kagome's feelings, which of course also implied they thought he'd _known _of Kagome's feelings for him...

He snorted.

_They give me far too much credit_ ... he thought bitterly. "Truth is, I'm just an idiot..." he murmured softly, far too quietly for the miko below him to hear.

Creeping closer to the edge of the roof, above the open window, Inuyasha took a deep breath, seeking out Kagome's scent to bring himself comfort. Yes, his own body still smelled of their joining, and that scent was very comforting, indeed, to know it hadn't been a dream, that he really had gotten to experience such a miracle, but right now he just needed the reassurance that Kagome was still there, still with him, right now in that very moment, and not just a fading memory, like the scent he wore was. Her fresh, present to the moment scent hit him as he breathed deeply, but unexpectedly and unwelcome, the scent of her tears was mixed with it, and it burned his nose in a way, making him cringe. It was the scent equivalent to nails on a chalkboard, as far as his brain was concerned; he _hated _the smell of her tears. His gut lurched, knowing he was the cause. His absence, his cowardice, had apparently allowed her mind to run away with her. Who knew what she was thinking? He didn't, and he wouldn't, until he _asked _her.

This was going to be the hardest conversation of his life.

Fortunately there was no sign of their friends, everyone else, even including little Shippou, at least thankfully showing him the respect to let he and Kagome face this moment alone. Sucking in a deep breath through his mouth, then, he rose to his feet, squared his shoulders, walked as calmly as he could muster to the edge of the roof overlooking the front door flap, and jumped.

oooOooooooOooo

Kagome paused in her brushing when she thought she heard a rustling on the roof, and she held her breath with brush still raised, listening with strained ears as she heard the softest of footsteps heading towards the front door, followed by the faintest sound of somebody landing on the dirt.

_He must have wanted me to hear him, otherwise he could've moved silently_ ... she knew right away, not sure how she felt about the revelation that he'd been up on the roof all this time.

She was glad she hadn't been talking to herself out loud.

Perhaps he'd hoped she would have been?

No matter, she wouldn't keep her thoughts from him. She knew he could smell deceit and this was no time for dishonesty.

As a crimson red sleeve pushed its way pasted the hanging reed doormat, followed quickly by the rest of him as Inuyasha gently shoved the doormat aside to enter, the reed mat falling back into place behind him, Kagome met his gaze with uncertainty and trepidation, but she met his gaze nonetheless, raised hairbrush forgotten. For a few uncounted seconds that felt like an eternity to the pair they simply stared at one another, the small, crackling flame in Kaede's firepit providing the only sound in the room.

Eventually it was Inuyasha who tried to speak first, but as he opened his mouth the words were suddenly caught in his throat. The look in her eyes...so afraid he was about to rip her heart out, or was it actually that she was afraid of ripping _his _heart out? Either way, he just couldn't take her looking at him like that. Finally, Inuyasha was the one to look away first, closing his mouth as he averted his gaze, lowering his head to stare at the floor. A move which Kagome immediately misunderstood, not knowing the real reason why he suddenly couldn't meet her eyes any longer. She thought it was because he felt guilty, fearing that whatever he was about to say would break her. Lowering her right hand which held her brush, resting both of her hands in her lap, Kagome too glanced down, staring at her hands in thought. It was up to her to reassure him.

"Inu..." she started before stopping abruptly, her voice unexpectedly cracking, causing her to suck in a sharp breath of air in the hope of keeping more tears at bay.

She knew all the things that needed to be said, but that didn't mean she wasn't terrified to say them. He hadn't given her enough time to compose herself; she wasn't as hardened as she'd wanted to be before having to face his rejection with a smile.

"Inuyasha..." she managed to choke out after a moment, her tone of voice _not _how she'd wanted it to sound, almost pleading as it was, although pleading for what she couldn't be sure. To not break her heart? To not cast her aside? To hold her and tell her that everything would be all right? Or D, all of the above? Mentally, she was kicking herself for being such a weakling when they both needed her to be strong.

Inuyasha cringed. The pain in her voice, so obvious, it caused his ears to flatten, caused his own heart to ache along with hers as he pinched his eyes shut, but what was the cause of her pain? Was he the perpetrator or the victim? Was he about to reassure her or damn himself? Would his words bring a smile to her lips or tears to her eyes, as she felt relieved or even more guilty? Regardless of the outcome, though, he had to be honest. That much, at least, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt.

"Kagome..." he managed to croak, his voice betraying his fear as he still stood staring at the raised wooden floor from his place standing in the dirt entryway, unable to lift his gaze to meet her own, even as he felt her eyes back upon him. "Kagome, I..."

_Just say it! _ he mentally yelled at himself. With as many times as he'd already flung the L word around, one would think it'd be easy to say it again in that moment, but trying to say it now, it was like voicing a surrender, in a way. He was surrendering his heart to Kagome, hers to do with as she pleased, and that thought utterly terrified him.

"No matter what, I won't be angry with you, I promise." Kagome spoke back up out of nowhere, surprised and a little proud of herself for how stable her voice suddenly sounded as she continued to stare at the way he was staring at the floor, trying and failing to read his expression, his hair blocking her view of his face.

Her unexpected reassurance, it had him furrowing his brow, although even though he'd just called himself an idiot not that long ago he wasn't _stupid_, and correctly deduced that she must have thought he was about to reject her, for whatever reason.

She thought _he _was about to reject _her_...so then did that mean she _wouldn't _reject _him?_

Feeling the tiniest bit braver, he found the courage to raise his eyes back up to meet her own in that moment, although he still remained standing in Kaede's dirt entryway, not yet walking forward to step up onto the raised wooden platform where Kagome sat near the firepit.

"Kagome, I'm not..."

He paused again, shy and tongue tied, but her eyes...gods. Her eyes were like a frightened rabbit staring at a hungry wolf, and the smell of her fear, that was what finally pushed him over the edge. No matter the outcome, he just had to plunge forward, even if the move drove a sword straight through his own gut. He'd never been afraid of battle before and that was precisely what this was, a battle. Only his opponent wasn't Kagome, it was his own gods damned insecurities.

"I'm not rejecting you. I...what I said last night...I still mean it."

There, finally, he said it. Well, close enough. Now that he'd stuck his neck out, he had nothing left to do but wait for the ax to fall. It only took him a few brief seconds to get his answer, but they were the longest seconds of his life.

At first, when he'd first started his unfinished sentence, Kagome could've sworn her heart had stopped beating. She'd stopped breathing; she'd stopped doing _anything _that could have possibly made _any _noise because she knew she couldn't miss the next words to leave his lips. She'd never understood the expression to be hanging onto somebody's words before, but she really had been hanging onto his every word right then in that moment. She'd been hanging _from _them, dangling, about to fall, hoping beyond hope that his next words would somehow save her from plummeting into despair.

"_Kagome, I'm not..."_ He's not what? Sorry for what they did? Able to see her any more? The man she'd thought he was? Sure what to do or where to go from here because he was just as fucked up in the head as she was?

Then when the rest of his words washed over her, it was like a soothing balm, a purifying rinse of holy water cleansing the blackness off her soul. He wasn't rejecting her...nothing else mattered. No matter what, they'd figure this out, together.

A huge, relieved sigh escaped her as a brilliant smile blossomed across her face, like a flower opening its petals at the feel of the sun. Then, the next thing Kagome knew, she was scooped up into his warm, inviting embrace, Inuyasha's feet having finally found the ability to move at her so obviously comforted reaction to his words. Realizing with finality that he'd said the right thing, feeling relieved himself when she hadn't started sobbing or reeking of guilt at his would-be reassurance, he'd immediately rushed her and picked her up from where she sat on the floor only to turn and plop himself down on the wooden floor himself with her in his lap, and there they sat, her in his arms, his voluminous sleeves draped across her tiny form as though to shield her from the outside world.

Kagome offered no resistance, resting her left cheek on his right shoulder while he tilted his head down and sideways, resting the right side of his head on top of hers, breathing deeply through his nose the scent of her happiness. They stayed like that for neither knew how long, until finally it was Kagome who broke the silence.

"I love you, too." she murmured quietly, and he chuckled a little, wrapping his arms around her just a tad bit tighter.

"I figured that part out..." he told her after a moment, his voice soft and gentle. "I just didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing."

His tone was relieved, indicating he was no longer that worried about it. In his mind, they'd find a way to make it work, no matter what. If she honestly couldn't stay with him in his world then he'd move with her into hers, end of discussion. Now that he knew both of their hearts wanted the same thing, he'd be damned if he let a little thing like them being from two different centuries get in the way. They loved each other; that was all there was to it.

Kagome pulled back the tiniest bit at his words, just enough to lift her head and peer up to meet his eyes though his arms remained wrapped around her.

"Why would it be a bad thing?" she asked, confused. She understood why _she'd _thought herself being in love with him was wrong, assuming his heart belonged to Kikyou, and in fact there was still a nasty little voice in the back of her head wanting to remind her that they hadn't discussed the undead miko yet, but ignoring Kikyou for that moment at least, then what could Inuyasha have possibly had to be worried about where _her _feelings were concerned? Unless...

"Because I...I figured you didn't _want _to love me, if _you_ figured, you know, that it just wouldn't work between us in the long run." he managed to explain shyly.

The look in his eyes reflected the remnants of his concern in that regard, but also his resolve. After all, just because Kagome had been relieved to hear his love confession, indicating that her fear had been that he was about to deny his feelings or otherwise reject _her_, that still didn't explicitly state her intention to remain with him after their quest was over. What if she'd just gotten so caught up in her insecurities about Kikyou that their other issues had simply slipped her mind? But he was prepared for realization to dawn in her eyes, to tell her that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Gazing up into his eyes in that moment, the hanyou waiting with baited breath for her reply, Kagome was reminded once again of Sango's words from back in the hot spring, the taijiya's belief of why else Inuyasha might have kept his feelings for her to himself if Kikyou were not the only reason.

"Because I'm from the future..." she stated in understanding then, but not with a tone that suggested she'd suddenly realized herself why it was truly an issue. Instead, her tone of voice implied only that she'd realized that that _was _his issue, until now; his reason for why he'd previously been worried up until that very moment. The fact that he was apparently no longer worried about it was also obvious to Kagome, and his composure in that moment was helping to keep her calm as well. She too believed that no matter what, they'd make it work.

"Yes, because you're from the future. Had you forgotten?" he asked in reply, his teasing tone of voice and eyes sparkling with amusement only further assuring the future-born miko that while it'd previously been a worry of his, it apparently no longer was.

"Baka..." she muttered playfully then, and he chuckled again, secretly relieved the final amount by the look of amusement in her own eyes. Whatever she was thinking, it clearly wasn't as big of an issue for her as he'd feared it was.

As if sensing his thoughts, Kagome got serious again in that moment, the look of amusement in her stormy blue-gray orbs replaced by one of love and reassurance.

"Inuyasha, there's no contest. Yes, I love my family and my world, but in a different way than the way I love you, and if I'd known you could have even _possibly _felt the same way I would've confessed my feelings long ago. While I'd like to be able to visit my family, if I can, my place is with you, if you'll have me."

Truly touched by what she said, Inuyasha didn't answer her with words of his own, instead immediately lowering his mouth to hers, speaking a different language that left no room for misunderstanding as she unhesitantly returned his kiss, her arms snaking up to wrap around his neck. Languidly, they reacquainted themselves with one another, relishing in the taste of each other, of the reassurance of whom they each held in their arms. When Inuyasha silently asked for entry, Kagome immediately granted him passage, opening her mouth to receive him, and as their tongues danced they each felt a spark of desire ignite from deep in their bellies.

The kiss became a little more heated, Inuyasha rumbling his approval deep in his chest as Kagome's right hand reached for and found his left ear, rubbing gently. His right hand found its way to the back of her head, delicately fisting her raven locks, but when he felt himself start to harden he forced himself to pull back, out of the kiss, lifting his head until her hand dropped away from his ear. Lowering his own hand back down to her side, he offered her a warm smile that assured her he wasn't rejecting her, but he simply felt that now was not the time or place, and she blushed a little, realizing he was right. They couldn't get carried away when they hadn't fully cleared the air yet.

Inuyasha's thoughts were running a mile a minute, but in a good way. If her being from the future hadn't been what'd been holding her back, then he knew what had. She'd said it herself, in a roundabout way, when she'd said she would've told him of her feelings if she'd known he felt the same way. That meant she'd previously thought that he _hadn't _felt the same way, and there was only one reason why _that _could be. They had to discuss it, now. Get it over with. Now was the perfect time, too, with him feeling so relaxed, the love of his life currently cuddled in his lap as she was. Leaning forward and resting his forehead against hers, then, Inuyasha was unable to wipe the grin off his face, even knowing what he was about to say. He couldn't help it; he'd never felt happier in his entire life than he did in that moment, and he knew his next words weren't about to ruin a damn thing.

"Just so you know, me 'n' Kikyou..."

She immediately stiffened at his words, like he'd expected her too, but he quickly plowed forward, saying what he knew she needed to hear.

"...it's the same, Kagome. I do still love her, in a way, but it's _nothing _compared to the way I...the way I love you."

He lifted his head away from hers to meet her eyes again, and her heart melted at the look of absolute love and devotion in his golden honey gaze, the absolute honesty she could hear in his voice.

She could also feel his erection from the way she was sitting in his lap, and it brought a darker splash of crimson to her cheeks, which had him chuckling again. He was half tempted to tell her how he'd never lusted for Kikyou the way he lusted for her, but figured that part could be left unsaid for the time being. Her proximity and the lingering scent of their joining was starting to make it hard for him to concentrate, but he knew he needed to think with his _big _head for the time being, and speak from the _heart_. The body was a part of it, sure, but their issues of the heart needed to get fully cleared up, first.

_Then_ he could tell her how badly he wanted her.

"I don't know how long you think I knew her, but not counting the first few weeks I stalked her for the jewel, after we actually started talking I was only with her for a couple of months before it all went to shit. I've known you longer than I knew her, now, and over the last few months you've become _way_ more important to me than she _ever _was, and while she's a real part of my past and somebody I can't abandon, I'd always wished that _you _could be my future. I hadn't known if you felt the same way or not, thinkin' that it didn't matter 'cause you'd planned on leaving me after we defeat Naraku either way, but so there it is. I hadn't said anything to you about my feelings 'cause I hadn't wanted to seem selfish, to force you to choose between me 'n' your family, so I was gonna let you leave since it'd seemed that's what you'd been plannin', but I hadn't wanted it. I wanted you. I _want _you. And I mean _you, _ ain't a part of it."

Tears welled up in her eyes at his words, but one sniff assured Inuyasha they were _happy _tears.

"Oh, Inuyasha..." she said, reaching up and placing her right hand on his left cheek.

He closed his eyes at the feel of her touch, tilting his head ever so slightly to press his cheek against her palm.

He could sense her happiness, but also her confusion, the lingering questions she wanted to ask.

"Go ahead and ask whatever you want, Kagome. For once, I'm actually in a talkin' mood." he said with a chuckle, opening his eyes back up and lifting his face away from her hand.

She lowered her hand and lightly bit her bottom lip, giving the matter some serious thought.

"You said you weren't sure if I felt the same way or not, so does that mean you _had_ thought it was possible? I just can't understand it, why you wouldn't say anything if you thought there was even a chance. Why let me go without a single word?"

It was truly perplexing to Kagome, because she _would _have said something to him had she known of _his_ feelings. But she had an excuse for why she'd thought he didn't see her that way, namely Kikyou. What was his excuse? Just because she was from the future? Though, on the other hand, she supposed she could see his point of view. She would have to be absolutely head over heels in love with him in order to want to give up her family, her entire _world _just to be with him. Lucky for him, that was precisely how she felt. But the longer she thought about it in that moment, she supposed she could understand why he'd made the decision to not say anything, even believing it was possible she liked him like that. He'd explained that he'd thought it'd been her intention to leave in the end regardless of whatever her feelings might or might not have been, and if you loved something, set it free, right? Hadn't that been the philosophy she'd been living by, herself?

He sighed at her question, his eyes never losing their look of love.

"What was I supposed to think?" he explained, his tone gentle and not accusative. "All the time, you talk about your school, your tests. You've pretty much drilled it into me how important all that stuff is to you, how you have to keep your grades up otherwise it'll hurt your future, and I've made the craters to prove it." He chuckled lightly. "Why would I think you might've been thinking about stayin' here after all our shit's done with as often as you talk about needing to do your tests and crap?"

Kagome had the good grace to blush at his explanation, especially his dig about her use of the rosary. Mentally smacking herself on the forehead, she knew he was right, she _had _always talked about how important her schooling was, for her future. Her future _in _the future.

"The...the reason I always talked about all that, you're right...it _was _because I'd been planning on going back to my time for good when everything was said and done. But...but I _hadn't _been thinking only that I wished I could stay here with you but that I just couldn't 'cause I was from the future and it just wouldn't work, just wasn't meant to be. My family...my family would understand. Mama's actually talked about my destiny before, when I've been upset, when I've come home after we've had a fight. She knows how I feel, including that I thought you didn't love me in return, but she'd always say something to cheer me up about how whatever was meant to be, would be, and that the fates work in mysterious ways. I know if I told them I wanted to stay here with you, they would let me. They would miss me, and I'd miss them, for sure, but girls moving away from home to go live with their new husbands is how it was always done, and most of the time still is. Sure in my time most people still keep in touch with their daughters, even if they move far away, 'cause of things like telephones or the Internet, but my Jii-chan's nothing if not a stickler for tradition, and well, what's more traditional than the grown up daughter moving away to become part of her husband's family?"

Her blush got darker and darker the further along she got in her speech, especially when she said the word 'husband', but Kagome was bound and determined to make sure Inuyasha knew _exactly _how she felt about him.

"The real reason why I thought I had to keep my grades up, that when our mission was over I'd be returning to my world, was because I thought you...I thought you loved _her_. I didn't think staying here with you was even an option, 'cause I'd figured that after the quest was over you'd be with her, and why would I want to subject myself to witnessing that? So I was going to leave, yes, but that's why. Don't get me wrong. It's not like I thought you didn't care about me at all. I _know_ we're friends, and that you would've missed me, but...but I just hadn't thought there was room for me in here..."

She reached up and placed her right hand on his chest, over his heart.

"I guess I was just jealous, and selfish, and even though I would've left without saying anything to hurt you, bowing out gracefully to let you have your own happily ever after, there's no way I could've stuck around to watch you be with her. I wanted your happiness more than anything, even if it wasn't with me, so I wouldn't have said a bunch of stuff to make you feel guilty, to throw my love in your face, but yeah, I was going to leave."

Closing his eyes as all she said sank in, a brief splash of pain washed over his face as he reached up and grasped her hand tightly with his own, pinning her hand to his chest as though afraid to let her go.

"Gods...Kagome...how we were about to fuck everything up." he said with a bitter laugh as he opened his eyes back up to meet her own.

She had the good grace to chuckle as well, silently admitting that their lack of communication was just as much her fault as it was his.

He gave her hand a squeeze, locking his eyes with hers.

"I knew Kikyou upset you, but I swear, I had no idea it was for _that _reason. I mean hell, I admit it, I was a total dick to you at first regarding Kikyou. I would've been pissed off too if say, you kept on saying how I wasn't as good as _Sesshoumaru _or something, like when I didn't know how to use Tessaiga at first. I remember what I used to tell you, and I didn't blame you for not liking it whenever I'd go see her or whenever she showed up and you had to deal with her presence. Her talking down to you herself like you were her 'copy' certainly didn't help matters..."

He sighed again, and then continued, shaking his head at himself.

"But damn it all, I'm an idiot, okay?"

The look in his eyes became apologetic, his tone of voice asking her to forgive him. He lifted her hand from his chest and unwrapped his other arm from around her body to reach over with his other hand, cupping her hand between both of his.

"I knew you might've kind of liked me, but I swear I just thought you needed to go back to your world at the end and that that was just that, and so you were tryin' to keep whatever feelings you might've had for me to yourself 'cause what would be the point in admitting it and breaking both our hearts, right? If I'd known you thought I still felt _that _way about _Kikyou_ I would've made sure to set you straight, I swear. I care about her, yeah, but _she's _the one I just think of as a good friend now, Kagome. You got you two flipped in your head, how you thought I thought of you both. And before you even think to bring it up I'll tell you right now I ain't sacrificing myself for her when all this shit's said and done. _Yes _I do owe it to her to kill Naraku, to avenge her, and fuck it, if I die during our fight against Naraku then _that's _my penance, my death for failing to avenge her, at _Naraku's _hand, not hers. If she wants to drag my soul into Hell after that, who am I to stop her? I'd deserve it for fucking failing her. But she _doesn't _want to kill me herself, to drag me into Hell as punishment, like she wanted before. That was before she knew the truth, and she's told me straight that she doesn't want that any more, that the only reason she'd wanted that was 'cause she'd thought that was what it'd take to appease her soul, but now it ain't. Now that she knows it was Naraku, my death wouldn't bring her soul peace, anyway. She needs _Naraku's _death, and I'll give it to her, and then I'm free to live my life. She's told me so. I think...I think she knows I love you. Hell, Miroku and Sango know it, so I guess it was only your wrong ideas about Kikyou that kept you from seein' it, too."

It was Kagome's turn to pinch her eyes shut as a brief stab of pain washed over her, pain stemmed from guilt for ever having doubted him, especially after everything they'd shared over the last few days.

As if sensing her thoughts, or maybe it was just Murphy's Law giving Kagome's guilt a nice hard kick while it was down, Inuyasha questioned her in that moment with, "What I don't get, though, is why you were still so worried about it _now_, even after we...after all we shared. I knew...I knew this morning that you loved me, because you'd told me so already, and I knew you were telling the truth, it was obvious. So how could you have _still_ doubted me when I already _told_ you I loved you? You still thought I loved Kikyou? Even after telling you I loved _you? _Or...or was it 'cause you thought that regardless of me loving you instead of Kikyou I'd still be going with her to Hell, anyway? Was that it?"

He supposed that would make sense, since he'd thought that even though she loved him she was still going to leave _him _for her own world at the end. So if Kagome had somehow believed that he was definitely going with Kikyou to Hell at the end, then his feelings for her suddenly wouldn't matter, just like how he'd been worried that hers for him hadn't mattered. Duty was duty and all that, so maybe she'd been fearing just as he had been that he'd been about to tell her how, regardless of his love, it just couldn't work out between them.

Having opened her eyes for a moment to meet his gaze when he'd started his question, she flinched and looked away again as he finished, prying her hand out of his grasp. She almost started to move the rest of her body, as if wanting to get up from the way she was still sitting in his lap, but feeling the way her muscles flexed the tiniest bit he immediately wrapped his arms back around her, his grip tight enough to articulate his desire for her to stay right where she was. His body had calmed back down by then, sexually, their conversation turning into a bit of a mood kill, but Inuyasha still knew it needed to be said. It _all _needed to be said.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me. I promise I won't get angry, either. We need to get this shit out, Kagome, and now while the others are actually giving us this chance to talk without them butting in. I want us to start clean, and that means _all _our fucked up thoughts from before need to be exposed and put to rest. I told you why I was still worried, 'cause even knowing you really did love me, I hadn't known if you'd still been planning on leaving anyway, if you were about to cry and tell me how sorry you were but that we just couldn't be together because you'd be leaving at the end no matter what. That was why _I _was afraid of rejection, so why were you?"

His tone of voice became softer and more understanding as he continued, wanting Kagome to know that he'd really meant it when he'd promised he wouldn't get angry. He wasn't trying to accuse her of not trusting him, because her fear of rejection had been obvious. He just wanted to know why so that he could more properly put those fears to rest. He knew it had to be Kikyou related, somehow, but he wanted her to admit the details, to get it all out there so that there wouldn't be _any _lingering insecurities between them.

Kagome sighed and relaxed her posture some, knowing he was right, but still dreading what she was about to confess.

"I'm sorry in advance, and I _don't _doubt your feelings now, so please don't be hurt, but..." she started, somehow managing to meet his eyes. "When I first woke up, I...I did remember you telling me you loved me, and I _did _think those emotions were real..."

"But?" he prompted when she paused, and she sighed again, lowering her head a bit to stare at his chest.

"But I'd thought that maybe...maybe you just loved _both _of us, like I was the 'other woman', and that's why I thought you were going to reject me, 'cause I thought you being with me was a betrayal of Kikyou. Maybe you had plans to go to Hell with her in the end, or maybe you didn't; honestly, I'd been pretty sure all that Hell stuff was behind you two, 'cause just like you said, I knew she hadn't known the truth about Naraku back then. I'd been sincerely hoping that she no longer wanted to kill you, but so I'd thought...I'd thought that you two were going to _live _together after the mission was over. Maybe try to pick up where you'd left off before Naraku got in the way. And yeah, I'd thought before that maybe...maybe you really did like me, too, a little bit; I thought maybe...I used to fantasize that you were at least attracted to me physically, like I am to you, but I knew it wouldn't be right, and I knew I'd _never _try to seduce you, 'cause it wouldn't be fair, 'cause you loved Kikyou, or so I thought."

Inuyasha let her words roll around in his head for a minute. He could easily understand the concept of loving two women at once. After all, _he _was the result of his _father's _'other woman', something his older half-brother would never let him forget for the rest of his life. And in a way it was true, he supposed, because in a way he _did _still love Kikyou, and he'd even admitted as much. The only difference was Kagome had apparently thought that Kikyou was number one in his life and that she was the lesser important of his two women, when in fact it was the opposite. Now, he'd _never _cheat on Kagome with Kikyou, physically; honestly, he'd never had much of a sexual desire for the undead miko, even back when she was alive. But aside from that minor detail he supposed it was true, in a way, that Kikyou was the 'other woman' of this equation. He wanted to be with Kagome, and in fact was with her most of the time, but then sometimes he'd go slink away and be with Kikyou instead, only it was just to talk, and maybe to remember the past. Was that still a betrayal in a way, a betrayal of Kagome? Not so long as he was honest about it, he supposed. And not so long as he wasn't _regretting _the past, wishing things could've been different in any way. The only thing he felt bad about was the way Kikyou's life had been cut short, but he was definitely relieved that he hadn't used the jewel to turn himself human, and he'd long ago come to grips with the fact that Kikyou wasn't as perfect as he'd once thought she was.

No, going and seeing Kikyou, that wasn't a betrayal of Kagome so long as he didn't rue his life with Kagome, so long as he didn't long to be with Kikyou instead, and he _didn't_. He only went to see the undead miko to be nice to her, and really, the _real _reason was because they were strategizing how to kill Naraku. Once Naraku was defeated his hope was that Kikyou could return to the land of the dead once and for all, but with her soul at peace, so that she could rest without torment, and he wouldn't regret her departure from his life at that time. Instead, now that it looked like he might actually have a real, bona fide future with Kagome to look forward to, that would be exactly what he'd be doing, looking forward to his future with Kagome.

"No need to apologize." he told Kagome then. "It makes sense. If you previously thought I loved Kikyou as much as you clearly thought I did, and then here I am saying those things to _you_, but with my memories of Kikyou obviously gone at the time, then I can get why you thought I just loved you both 'like that', and how I now regretted being with you if it was a betrayal to Kikyou. You were _wrong_..." he added with a chuckle, "but I can get why you thought it."

Kagome bit her lower lip, in a crazy way hating how he was being so understanding, because it just made her feel that much worse about what she still hadn't told him.

"Not just that..." she admitted then, earning a confused tilt of his head, the way a dog would do. She found it endearing.

"Kami...this is hard..." she grumbled, leaning forward and resting her face in the crook of his neck on his right, both hands fisting the front of his suikan, as if trying to hold onto him for dear life.

He stiffened a little at the move, nervous about her sudden nervousness, the spike of fear in her scent unsettling him even further. Just what was it she still wasn't telling him?

"I'm _so _sorry..." she started barely louder than a whisper, guilt pouring off of her in waves. "I'm sorry, and I _don't _feel this way anymore, obviously, but...but before you came in, when I was thinking about everything that'd happened between us versus what I _thought _I knew of your feelings for Kikyou, I...I'd also thought that maybe...that maybe it was possible you had been confusing the two of us. You know, 'cause I look like her."

He stiffened more at her words, but he remained quiet, allowing her to continue.

"I thought, you know, that me being familiar to you was crossing wires in your brain with the love you felt for Kikyou, and so when you saw my face, you associated my appearance with those feelings, and then because I _was _familiar to you, my scent, my uniform, you assumed those feelings of love were for me. And I _wasn't_ angry with you, when I'd thought that that might've been what'd happened, 'cause obviously it wasn't your fault if it was. I actually felt sorry for you, and was just afraid that you were about to break my heart, having to explain it all to me, how you weren't yourself and never meant to hurt me but that there could be nothing between us. That was what was bothering me the most when you first came in here, why I was so afraid of you rejecting me. I'd figured the _best _case scenario was that you actually loved us both, and just gave into your desire to cheat on Kikyou with me because of the spell. Worst case, you'd confused me for her, and that thought was breaking my heart all by itself, both for myself and my unrequited love, and also from a place of sympathizing with you, with how guilty you must have felt, both to hurt me like that and also to betray Kikyou like that. I'd wanted to take your pain away most of all, and was going to try my best to forgive and forget, to not make you feel even worse than I'd thought you already did."

Finished, she breathed out slowly, keeping her face where his neck met his shoulder. She found comfort in the fact that he hadn't shoved her away yet, disgusted with her lack of faith in him, of how her explanation made it sound like she'd thought so little of him. Not that confusing her for Kikyou really could have been his fault in any way, if it really _had _happened, but more that she'd thought he would actually have the gumption to reject her afterwards, to expect her to be able to act as though it'd never happened. How much cruelty did she honestly think he was capable of? Of course, in reality, Kagome's imagination was just running away with her again, since that wasn't where his thoughts had taken him at all.

Inuyasha was frozen stiff, unable to move for the knife in his heart. He didn't need to understand the 'crossing wires' part of her statement for everything else she'd said to make perfect sense to him, and he felt horrible listening to her confession, his gut twisting up inside, although not for the reason she was expecting.

"Kami, Kagome..." he uttered after a moment, his voice cracking.

He breathed deeply through his nose to find his solace, the scent of their joining taking him back to that moment in his mind, and all the feelings he remembered feeling at that moment in time, when he'd known only his instincts.

"You ain't got nothin' to feel sorry for, since it's my stupid ass that filled your head with those doubts in the first place." he told her then. "Looking back on the way I used to insult you, comparing you to her, and adding in that you thought I _loved _her? That makes all those insults so much _worse_. Fuck...I've been breaking your heart for months and never knew it. I ain't gonna lie about your physical resemblance to her, 'cause that'd just be stupid. You _do _have her face, but you know what? I don't fucking care, because I'm half _inu, _Kagome, and it's _scent _that matters most to me. Back then, when I didn't know shit about who the fuck I was, or who _you_ were, I was functioning purely on instinct, yeah, but there ain't no way in _Hell_ I confused any supposed love for Kikyou and thought it was you 'cause it wasn't your _face _that I 'associated' those feelings with, it was your _scent_."

He emphasized his point by making a deliberate show of sniffing her hair, before gently forcing her face away from the crook of his neck only so that he could bury _his _face in the crook of _hers, _on her left. Sticking out his tongue, he licked the faint, healing bruise that was the hickey he'd given her during their night together, and he chuckled a little when she shivered at the sensation.

"Those feelings I had for you while we were under the spell, those are the feelings I _have _for you, and they're all for _you_, Kagome..." he rumbled, nipping the skin of her neck very delicately, careful not to cause injury. He then pulled back, meeting her eyes again.

"I'm sorry..." she repeated anyway, even though he'd accepted the blame himself. "I guess my mind just ran away with me when I woke up and you weren't here. I'd figured, if you really _had _loved _me_ then you would've been here to tell me that first thing. You should've realized I'd misunderstand when I woke up to find you gone." she playfully accused, laughing a little at her own foolishness. "The fact that you were gone, I'd figured it meant that you'd needed time to yourself, time to think...and _that _could only mean you'd needed time to think of how to put me down gently without hurting my feelings too badly."

He sighed, and laughed a little at his own foolishness, too.

"Truth is, I was right here beside you until you started to wake up. I'd been awake for a while already, woke when the others got up and left, but I didn't let _them _know that and I stayed put, my mind making me crazy. There were a million things I wanted to tell you, but at the same time, because of my own fears, I was afraid of facing _your _rejection, and so when you started to wake my fear won out and I bolted. I didn't mean to make you worry, and I'd actually realized my absence _had _made things worse, when I smelled your tears, which was what finally forced me to get over myself and come back in here to see you."

She smiled a little at that, to realize that he hadn't actually walked out with the others after all, but had instead chosen to stay lying beside her, intending on being there for her when she woke up until his own fear had caused him to runaway at the last second. That was a hell of a lot better in her book than him making the knowing decision to leave her be while he went to deal with his own thoughts.

Inuyasha pulled Kagome from her musings as he leaned forward and captured her lips in a brief, chaste kiss. Earning her full attention, he affectionately rubbed the backside of his right index finger along her left cheek before lowering his hand, the look in his eyes determined.

"Hell, Kagome, trying to figure out how to let you down easy was not eventhe _last_ thought on my mind, it wasn't on my mind at _all_.I've wanted you so badly, for so long... If you actually, really can and will stay with me after we defeat Naraku and get rid of the damn jewel that'll make me the happiest hanyou on the planet. No, you know what? Fuck that. Already just being your friend made me the happiest _hanyou_, I'm sure, by a long shot. If you are actually willing to be _more _than my friend, to be my _wife? _That'll make me the happiest _man_, and if for some reason your family does give you grief about staying here don't sweat it, 'cause the reason it'd no longer bothered me as much after realizing it hadn't been your concern was 'cause I'd already made the decision that if you can't stay here, _I'll_ move _there_. I don't give a fuck how different it is, or how weird, or even if I have to go to that school place myself and worry about my own damn tests. I'll figure it out; I'll learn whatever you tell me I need to learn to be able to get by in your world. And if you can and do stay here? I'll protect and take care of you, forever. We can stay right here in the village, where they actually tolerate me. Sure, some people might not be too keen on the idea of a miko and hanyou together, but fuck 'em. Kaede-babaa would keep 'em from throwing us out. We could have our house built just within the forest border, on the other side of the shrine. That should be far enough away from the main part of the village that we wouldn't bother anyone else."

"You've...you've really thought about this..." Kagome commented, eyes opened wide in astonishment.

He chuckled again.

"It was all just a dream, before now. Sure, I'd thought about it, but never like I thought it could _really _happen."

"This is a bit like a dream come true, isn't it?" she agreed, reaching up with her right hand to rub his left ear again.

He tilted his head into her touch, his eyes closing in bliss, but when he felt something stirring in his loins he snapped his eyes back open and tilted his head out of her reach.

"S-sorry, uh..." he stuttered, blushing. It didn't help when Kagome giggled as she pulled her hand back.

"Looks like I know a secret about inu-youkai physiology." she teased, and his blush darkened as she wiggled her bottom some in his lap, making it obvious to the hanyou that she knew his erection was back with a vengeance.

"Kn-nock that off, _Wench_." he finished with a teasing glint to his own voice.

She gasped and frowned playfully, slapping his chest with faux annoyance at the nickname.

"_Baka_ ..." she stressed, earning a laugh from the hanyou that had her smiling.

She was so happy that he was so happy.

Hell, she was so happy that _she _was so happy.

He was right; oh how the two of them had nearly fucked everything up... But there was no point in dwelling on any of that any longer. They'd cleared the air, realizing how much of a baka they'd _both _been, and now it was time to look towards the future.

_Their _future.

Without warning, Kagome tilted her head up and slammed her lips back against his own, her hands fisting his silvery locks.

Inuyasha was surprised for all of two seconds before his body kicked into gear and he reciprocated by returning her kiss with passion, his left hand pressed firmly against the small of her back while his right climbed higher until it was cupping the back of her head. Unhurriedly, he allowed their lips and tongues to duel, a burst of pride and love coming over him at the way not one single speck of nervousness appeared in Kagome's scent when she began exploring his fangs. In fact, it was the scent of her _arousal _that increased as she traced their length with her tongue before gently nipping his bottom lip with her own teeth. A brazen move that was making it hard for him to remember why they needed to cool it before things got any more heated.

After all, just because everyone knew they'd already slept together, it wasn't like he wanted any of their friends to actually walk _in _on them.

"K-Kagome..." he managed to rasp, sucking in a deep breath once she freed his mouth because he'd stopped breathing through his nose for fear that her delicious aroma would cast a blanket of poor judgment over his mind.

He cleared his throat, meeting her eyes with a sheepish, embarrassed grin.

"Kagome, kami how I want you, but I don't think now's a good time."

She blushed terribly at his words, realizing yet again that he was right. She hadn't felt shy at the time, having been attracted to him and having fantasized about him 'like that' for as long as she had, not to mention the fact that they'd already slept together now, thanks to that tengu's spell. And she did want to _thank _that tengu for his spell, because those were memories she _certainly _did not regret having. But even though they'd pretty much cleared the air now and wiped the slate clean, and were in an official relationship now as far as she could tell, that still didn't mean they should just up and do the nasty in Kaede's hut.

"You're right, I'm sorry." she replied then, her tone more whimsical than truly remorseful. "We'll have to figure something out, though, 'cause there's no way I want our one night together to _remain _our one night together." she added boldly, shooting him a heated look.

He chuckled once; it sounded more like a snort.

"Hell, Woman, I don't think I could resist you now even if I tried." he admitted, waggling his eyebrows, which earned a pleasant giggle from the miko. "I'm glad we're on the same page, if that's how you use that expression, 'cause I _definitely _don't want to put our relationship off until after we kill Naraku."

Kagome nodded her agreement. "Yup, you got the expression right, and we're _definitely _on the same page, 'cause I don't want to wait, either." Thinking about something for a moment, Kagome asked with genuine concern, "It won't screw anything up between you and Kikyou, will it? I mean, will she be angry with you? I believe you, where _your _heart lies, but what about hers?"

He could tell she was speaking from a place of genuine concern for the undead miko, and that thought just reminded him all the more of why he loved her.

"Honestly? I don't know. It'll probably be bittersweet for her. I think a part of her wants to see me happy, the part that loved me from before, but even though she's promised she won't act on it a large part of her also still hates me, because of the feelings of hatred she'd died with, and those emotions are frozen within her. She'll probably be jealous, but not because she honestly thinks there could've ever been a chance for her and me now, with her as she is. She's jealous of you period, for the fact that you're alive, so you winning my love? That'll just be another thing added to the list in her mind of how life is unfair. There's not that much we can really do about it, though, except try to understand things from her point of view. She's a ghost, in a way, and in most ways there's just no reasoning with ghosts. She's driven mostly to kill Naraku, though, so let's just focus on that. I'd rather not flaunt our relationship in her face, but I won't lie to her either, Kagome. If she asks, I'll tell her the truth."

"And if she suddenly demands to take you into Hell with her, after all?" she asked, her tone more curious than genuinely worried.

He shook his head.

"She's already released me from any supposed vow I made in that regard, saying she no longer wants my death and will not be dragging me into Hell. If she changes her mind because she thinks I scorned her that wouldn't matter, it wouldn't count; I'm not going anywhere."

Kagome offered him a tender smile at his words.

"Still, now that I know how you really feel, you can go and talk with her whenever she comes around, and I won't give you any grief about it. I used to worry in the beginning that she'd pull something, try to kill you like she tried before, but I know she's not like that now."

It was his turn to smile at her words.

"So then I guess the only thing left to do now is tell my family." she added suddenly, wiping the smile from his face as his eyes reflected his sudden nervousness, a 'deer in the headlights' look coming over him like any adolescent boy might get at the thought of telling his girlfriend's family about them.

Kagome giggled again.

"Mama _loves _you, relax." she assured, adding, "I can't really afford to keep it from her, anyway, 'cause in my time I'm still too young to get a birth control prescription by myself, and I _definitely _think me going on the pill, as uncommon as that is compared to just using condoms, is definitely the better decision in this case."

He just kind of blinked at her at that one, trying to wrap his mind around her foreign words. Even though he had no idea what a prescription was, or a pill, or condoms, the term 'birth control' seemed fairly self explanatory.

"They have something in your time that controls birth?" he asked, clarifying, "You mean like herbs that get rid of pregnancies, right?" He wanted to make sure they were still on the 'same page', using the expression he'd picked up from Kagome over their time together. They had such herbs in his time, too, although he could easily concede that the ones from her world were probably better.

"Not to get rid of pregnancies, although we have that, too." she explained then. "My time actually has a medicine that successfully prevents pregnancy in the first place. Even though now's _not _the time to have a baby, I...I don't think I'd have the heart to get rid of one if I did end up pregnant. I guess first I'll have to make sure I'm not already pregnant from our night together. If I am we'll figure something out."

"You're not, so don't worry." he stated before blushing darkly at the curious look she gave him. "Er...I..." He cleared his throat. "I know your cycle." he decided for.

It was her turn to blush again.

"Oh." she managed to squeak, before clearing her own throat. "Well good, I guess. One less worry, at least. I mean don't get me wrong-" she started, only to get interrupted.

"I get it. Now's totally not the right time to bring a brat into the world. I'd thought that before, that...that night. If you...if you'd been, ya know, _ready_, well...it would've been the hardest thing I'd ever had to do, but I wouldn't've let us..."

"Have sex..." she provided oh-so helpfully when he paused, chuckling at the way he glanced away with crimson cheeks.

"Er, yeah, that."

He closed his eyes, mentally berating himself for suddenly still acting like a skittish virgin when he was no longer one, and the woman he'd lost his virginity to was presently still sitting snuggled in his lap, his erection pressed against her bottom through their layers of clothing.

"Fuck it. I can tell by scent when you're fertile, and if you had been that night then I wouldn't have let us have sex. There."

He glanced back her way and nodded, proud of himself for spitting it out.

She offered him a warm, understanding smile, before quickly reaching up and tweaking his ear.

He chuckled a little, before something suddenly occurred to him. Realizing what they were _actually _discussing, what they'd both _actually _said, he asked, "But...but later, after we kill Naraku and get rid of the jewel...you'd really...?"

He couldn't finish what he wanted to clarify, but he didn't have to.

"I said I wanted to be your wife, didn't I? What all do you think that entails?" Her voice and eyes were both full of so much love in that moment that it would've knocked him on his ass if he weren't already sitting.

"You really mean that..." he stated almost in awe, although it wasn't voiced like a question. Kagome could understand why the concept was so astonishing to him.

He stared into her eyes for a moment, his lips curving up into a huge grin that revealed his fangs, and then the look of awestruck love in his golden orbs shifted into something a tad more playful.

"Even with the ears?" he asked, a teasing edge to his voice.

She smirked.

"Oh _especially _with the ears." she replied knowingly, reaching up with both hands to rub the base of both of his ears.

Inuyasha rumbled deep in his chest, his eyes closing in bliss. Even though it was sexually stimulating, and was making his 'problem' down below even more noticeable, to the both of them, neither hanyou nor miko wanted to stop what they were doing...until an unexpected and unwanted moan that sounded suspiciously like a _whimper _escaped his throat against his will.

Embarrassed, he quickly reached up with both hands and lifted Kagome's away from his ears, grumbling out a humiliated sounding "'Nuff of that." as he released her hands

Kagome quirked a brow at him.

"Inuyasha...were you..."

She paused, unsure if she was right and even more unsure if she should voice it. Perhaps it was just his developing case of blue balls that was bothering him, and granted, she really _should _stop the teasing, she knew, since they couldn't do anything about it for the time being.

_Unless I can get him to sneak off into the woods_ ... a wicked part of her mind provided, the miko chuckling inwardly at the perverted thought. She just might have to take the naughty part of her mind up on that idea.

But dragging her thoughts back on track for the time being, it hadn't seemed to her in that moment as if he'd merely whimpered in his version of a moan before then wanting her to stop her ear torture simply because of the way it was torturing him. Instead, it was actually almost as if...

"Were you just...just embarrassed because you whimpered like that?" she decided to ask, immediately realizing she was right by the way he looked away and lowered his ears to his head, clearly even more embarrassed that she'd called him on it. If she'd been wrong then he would've had a completely different reaction to her question, she was sure. Her intention was not to poke fun at him. "You know you don't have to feel self-conscious about any of your inu-youkai traits around me, don't you? Hell, what about you rumbling that happy growl-like sound you were also making? That's canine, too, you know. And you always growl whenever an enemy shows up, or Kouga-kun..."

She did have a point, saying that last part on purpose in order to prove said point with the way Inuyasha automatically growled at the sound of _that _name. He turned back her way and glared, but she raised a hand up as he opened his mouth, stopping whatever remark he was about to grumble out.

"Don't worry, the next time he shows up I'll proudly let you tell him how I'm _your _woman. But _as _your woman, I want to make sure you know that that means you can be _yourself _with me, at _all _times."

His eyes opened a little bit wider at her words, suddenly wondering if she meant what he _thought _she meant by the way she'd emphasized certain parts.

"You...you mean, even during..."

"At _all _times." Kagome stressed again. "You wanna mount me from behind? I don't have a problem with that." she teased, winking as she told him, "In my time they call that position 'doggie style'."

He barked out a laugh at that one, and in a way it did kind of sound like an actual bark. As he thought about it, though, the idea of taking Kagome from behind like that...

"You need to get out of my lap, Woman, before I take you up on that offer right now."

She laughed but also complied, crawling out of his lap to sit on the floor beside him. Sobering a little, she sighed and said, "Much as I'd like to go run off with you somewhere where you can make good on that threat, I think in reality we need to wait until after I can start taking the pill, just to be on the safe side."

He smirked a little just at her admission of a part of her wanting to sneak off like that. What a little vixen, his secret hentai Kagome. Although he did agree that now was definitely not the right time to bring a baby into the mix, and even though he _could _scent when she was fertile he'd be the first to admit that he didn't know _that _much about biology, like how long his seed could live inside her body, plus there was the fact that her cycle wasn't always completely on schedule. Her fertility might sneak up on him one month, and then what? Pray that the last time they'd slept together was long enough ago that his seed had died before her body became ready to accept it? No, going by scent alone wasn't a fool proof method of avoiding pregnancy in the grand scheme of things, he knew, and therefore it was far too risky as far as he was concerned, especially considering what all was at stake. If she actually had some kind of super powerful herbs in her century that she could take that would prevent her from getting pregnant then he'd wait until after she got those herbs. It wouldn't be a _pleasant _wait, but he'd wait nonetheless.

As if sensing where his thoughts had finished off, probably from reading the splash of discomfort that had passed over his face, Kagome leaned up against him and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Of course, there are _other _things we can do in the meantime." she stated with a sultry edge to her voice, before leaning in again and _licking _his cheek that time.

He floundered while she giggled, coughing a little in his shock over her boldness. It would've been a spit-take reaction had he been drinking anything.

With crimson cheeks, he darted his eyes her way for a second before looking away again. There were still _some _topics he found it hard to discuss.

"G-gland to know t-that it didn't bother you." he mumbled shyly, his face disappearing into the red of his suikan.

It was then Kagome's turn to cock her head to the side in confusion, wondering if they were somehow talking about two different things because his reaction just didn't make any sense to her.

"Why would it have bothered me?" she asked, perplexed, even if she was a little embarrassed herself to be discussing such a...personal...thing. Trying to keep a brave face and not appear too embarrassed she boldly added, "I certainly didn't have any complaints."

He fidgeted, adjusted the way he was sitting slightly, and she figured their present topic was probably not making his 'situation' any better. She was just about to drop it and change the subject when he spoke back up again.

"Guess you weren't kidding." he mumbled shyly, offering her a hesitant smile.

_Okay, now I really am confused_ ...

She couldn't help asking.

"Kidding about what?"

He fidgeted in his seat some more, glancing her way a few more times in between looking in the other direction, as if he wanted to look her way but was somehow afraid to at the same time.

"About...you know...you being okay with my inu half, at 'all' times." he tried to emphasize.

Kagome furrowed her brow, really starting to wonder if they were talking about the same thing or not, although even with all her brazen teasing she was nowhere near bold enough to just come _right _out and say it.

"Are we both talking about the same thing?" she asked him then, her tone of voice slightly confused, slightly amused. "Because I'm talking about how you...I mean..._you _know...kami don't make me say it!" she finished with a laugh, crimson staining her own cheeks.

His blush only darkened as well.

"We better be talking about the same thing." he stated, his tone suggesting that he'd be pissed off, even if just at himself, if he'd gotten all embarrassed for no reason because his stupid mind had wandered off into hentai land while hers hadn't. He didn't think so, though, with as forward as her words had sounded. "You said we could do 'other' things in the meantime, since we can't really _be _together again until you get those herbs. So I figured you meant..._you_ know...and then you licked my cheek, so..."

That sealed it for Kagome.

Although thankfully her confusion, a different variety this time, kicked in to override her own embarrassment in that moment. They had nearly lost out on the chance of ever being together at all because they'd both been so caught up in jumping to their own conclusions about this or that that they'd never sat down and actually _talked_ with one another about how they _really_ felt, and she was bound and determined to _never _make that mistake again.

Even when the conversation was embarrassing as hell.

"But what does that have to do with your inu half?"

That got Inuyasha to look her way again, his own eyes reflecting confusion that time. Could she honestly not put two and two together?

"Uh...because it was _because_ of my inu half that I..."

He paused when understanding dawned in Kagome's eyes, grateful for the fact that she'd finally caught on because he _really _hadn't wanted to spell it out any more than that.

Smiling with a look in her eyes that was a combination of amused and sympathetic, Kagome reached forward and rested her hand on Inuyasha's shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze.

"Maybe it really was your canine instincts that drove you. Thinking about it, I don't know how you could have acquired very much knowledge on the subject otherwise, unless you're a peeping tom..." she teased, offering him a playful wink at his indignant look at her suggestion that he would _dare _peep like the bouzu did. "But Inuyasha...that was a perfectly _human _thing you did, what we did. _Everything _we did, what you did with me...there was nothing exclusively canine about it. _Trust _me, in my time, knowledge about anything and everything sexual is pretty much everywhere. There's so much hentai stuff around that probably even Miroku-sama could get his fill and be bored of it..."

Inuyasha laughed quietly at that.

"But so trust me..." she continued. "Even if you...even if the canine part of you enjoyed that, in a canine way, then _no _that doesn't bother me because human men, they do what you did, too. And this isn't all one sided, either, you know. If you wanted to fool around over the next couple of months while we're waiting for my pills to kick in, I'll gladlyreturn the favor."

_That _did it.

Bolting to his feet, Inuyasha looked Kagome's way and muttered, "Uh...I uh...I'll be right back."

He made it two steps towards the door before her voice rang out teasingly with, "Want me to help?"

And that was how Kagome suddenly found herself flung over his back, racing through the trees. She didn't mind it, though. They were together now, engaged to wed as far as she was concerned, and so there was nothing wrong with them disappearing into the woods from time to time for some 'private' time. He was so far gone, though, that she didn't get a chance to demonstrate her modern day knowledge of the act that was the counterpart to what he'd done for her during their night together. She barely wrapped her fingers around him when he lost it, spilling himself on the forest floor, although the miko took it as a tremendous compliment and still told Inuyasha that some other time, when they had the time, she'd still gladly perform that _other _act, an act that Inuyasha had actually already known existed from overhearing men traveling through the woods talking about it, hence why the mental image of Kagome performing such an act on _him _had had him on the verge of messing his pants. Why he'd automatically associated himself pleasuring _her_ in such a way as a 'dog' thing when he _knew _women could do that for men he wasn't quite sure, but like Kagome had even said, maybe he really _had _been driven to do so by his canine instincts at that moment in time, but even if that were the case she simply didn't care. The actual act itself wasn't disgusting to her, which was his main concern, and so then nothing else really mattered; apparently that was one thing dogs and humans simply had in common.

Apologizing sheepishly for their impromptu rendezvous as he refastened his hakama, Inuyasha promised Kagome that he'd even the score later, and she laughed it off, assuring him she wasn't worried about it as they made the quick journey back to Kaede's. They still had the hut all to themselves, having only been gone for a few minutes, and so they spent the next several minutes discussing the few remaining things they still needed to talk about, including the details of how Kagome's birth control pills actually worked, and how long they'd have to wait before feeling confident that the medicine had had enough time to take effect. Inuyasha still felt hesitant to face Kagome's family about their newfound level of closeness, but she won him over in the end the same way women had been getting men to do whatever they wanted for generations, with the lure and appeal of sex. No pills equaled no more sex, even though she _would _be willing to do those 'other' things, but even so Inuyasha knew that he'd only be able to take it for so long before he'd want to be rejoined with her _all _the way, and so that meant facing her family, end of discussion. First, though, they had to face their friends.

Heading out of Kaede's hut, then, walking side by side though not holding hands because such a ballsy public display of affection wasn't as socially acceptable in his time period as it was in hers, it didn't take Inuyasha long to find the others. Kaede was doing her rounds in the village, but Sango, Miroku and Shippou were all together, hanging out near the edge of one of the fields. Sango was going through a few kata motions with her sword, the taijiya always wanting to keep her face-to-face combat skills sharp because relying too heavily on Hiraikotsu could prove fatal. Nearby, Miroku sat underneath the shade of a small tree, a stack of blank ofuda pages beside him on one side, finished ofuda drying on the other, and an ink brush in hand as he worked on his current one. A stop at Kaede's village was the perfect opportunity to replenish his various ofuda, since the elderly miko always kept a supply of sutra papers on hand, even more so now that she knew he would repeatedly be in need of them.

Shippou was playing with Kirara in the field near Sango, and was the first one to notice the couple's arrival.

"It's them!" he said excitedly, immediately earning Sango and Miroku's attention as the two humans looked up to smile at the way Kagome and Inuyasha were both smiling as they approached.

"Well good morning, you two." Miroku greeted, setting his wet ofuda down carefully to dry before picking up the already dry ones and rising to his feet, tucking the finished ofuda into his robes.

"I would ask what's for breakfast, but I bet it's almost time for lunch." Kagome stated with a nervous chuckle, tiptoeing around the subject at hand.

"Sorry, Kagome-chan," Sango explained as she approached, sheathing her sword. "Kaede-sama had said it would be best to let you two sleep as long as you needed, so we didn't want to risk disturbing you with the sounds and smells of cooking; we all ate at the village headman's."

"He was told only that you two needed to sleep undisturbed to fully recover from a magically based youkai attack. Kaede-sama allowed him to assume the tengu's spell merely depleted your own spiritual energies." Miroku added, since it was obvious the headman would have had to have been told _something _to explain their arrival, and the hanyou and miko's noticeable absence.

Kagome nodded at the monk's explanation, relieved that there wouldn't be any rumors spreading among the locals, not to mention her relief that Miroku seemed to be acting so maturely for the time being. Of course, if he knew about her and Inuyasha's little trip into the forest before coming to greet them he'd never let them live it down, she was sure. Miroku was Miroku, no matter how long he managed to stay on his 'best behavior' for their sake.

_Sango-chan must have threatened him_... she thought, amused. Pervert or no she'd gotten used to him; he was her friend, and their friends deserved to know the truth.

Just not the 'juicy' details.

Kagome and Inuyasha shared a look, the expression in the hanyou's eyes confirming he felt the same way. Then he nodded once, and she nodded as well, letting him know that she understood.

"Keh, may as well get this over with, since I know you guys gotta be wondering." he stated then, addressing their friends. "Especially _you_..." he added with a glare in Miroku's direction, to which the monk put on his best 'Who, me?' mask of innocence.

Inuyasha snorted once, shaking his head, then glancing back Kagome's way, he offered her a warm smile as she turned her head and smiled his way in return. Glancing around first to make sure none of the farmers working nearby were paying them that much attention, Kagome then stuck out her hand in Inuyasha's direction in offering, and since he also knew nobody was looking Inuyasha grinned at the future-born miko before voluntarily taking her hand in his and giving it a little squeeze, nobody but their friends bearing witness.

Holding Kagome's right hand in his left, Inuyasha turned back to look at the relieved faces of Sango, Miroku and Shippou, and nodded, stating, "We got our shit worked out, and just so you guys know for sure, so there ain't no guessing, Kagome 'n' me, we're together now, and we're gonna _stay _together after we kill that bastard Naraku."

Sango's eyes met Kagome's at Inuyasha's words, and the miko nodded happily at the congratulatory look the taijiya sent her way, Sango of course having known how badly Kagome had longed for this, what she'd previously deemed to be a nearly impossible fantasy.

"I'm so happy for you both." the taijiya stated, nodding her approval.

"'Bout time!" Shippou piped up, earning a chuckle from everyone present.

Miroku opened his mouth to say something, a twinkle in his eye, but Inuyasha cut him off, releasing Kagome's hand to cross his arms within his sleeves.

"No lecherous thoughts, Bouzu, but if you've got something serious to say, then go ahead."

Miroku closed his mouth for a moment, sighed, chuckled, then shook his head with an amused expression and said, "My friend, you know me too well, and yet not well at all if you think I can actually refrain from having such thoughts."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, and Miroku chuckled again, ignoring Sango's heated glare as he added, "However, while I can guarantee you that my mind will continue to function how you already know it does, I also promise to show you respect by at least attempting to restrain my _words_, so as the lovely Sango already so eloquently stated, I am truly happy for the both of you."

Inuyasha nodded his approval, then, and Kagome offered the monk a warm smile. She was about to reach over and squeeze Inuyasha's upper arm affectionately before pausing as a few farmers approached, and the locals bowed a polite greeting as they passed, none the wiser. They would find out about the pair's union _eventually_, as nobody really had any intention of trying to keep it a secret, but for that moment at least Kagome didn't want to have to deal with word spreading like wildfire, which it inevitably would when they _did _find out.

"I can take a joke, Miroku-sama," the miko stated then, her focus back on the conversation at hand, "but sometimes you go too far, and I won't hold Inuyasha back if you push him too far. Just remember that."

The monk nodded in understanding, and rubbed the back of his head, as if remembering past occurrences when he had indeed pushed the hanyou too far.

"All kidding aside, Kagome-sama," he stated then, "it is my true belief that the kami intended for you two to be together, and you will find no disapproval of your union from me, nor dare I say Kaede-sama, either, although she has not yet been made aware of what all truly transpired between you two during your adventure."

_Feh, ain't none of her damn business, neither_... Inuyasha thought, although he held his tongue. He supposed the elderly miko _did _have a right to know, the longer he thought about it. They were staying under her roof whenever they stopped at her village, after all, and so she didn't deserve to be deceived over something like that. He and Kagome were going to have a sexually active relationship, and she needed to be okay with that, or they needed to find a new place to stay.

"We'll talk to Kaede." the hanyou stated then, his lack of a disrespectful suffix added to her name translating into the most respect the others had ever heard him give the elderly miko.

Kagome offered him a warm smile, and then told the others how they could go back to what they'd been doing, because she and Inuyasha needed to go ahead and find and speak with Kaede and then head back through the well for the time being. Besides needing to speak with her family about this newest development, Kagome was due for a return trip home, anyway. They were running very low on some supplies, they were _completely_ out of ramen, and she really needed to check in with her school, too.

Another thing she and Inuyasha had discussed briefly before heading out to find their friends was her need to continue her schooling, even though she _did _now plan on living with him in his time once everything was said and done. It was a matter of honor, for her family's sake, that she complete her education with at least relatively good grades, and when put _that _way Inuyasha didn't have a problem with it. Doing something for her family's honor, so that her world would not view her as a disgrace and a failure, how could he fault her for that? So for the time being at least, while they were still hunting Naraku and Kagome was still going back and forth between worlds, he would also allow her to continue going to school. If after they defeated Naraku and purified the jewel the well suddenly stopped working then Kagome wouldn't beat herself up over something she couldn't change, in that regard, but until that happened she'd work under the impression that she could actually finish and graduate. Neither of them were worried about the possibility of the well separating them from each other once everything was said and done; they also now believed that they were meant to be together, and so they both fully believed that the kami would arrange it so that they _could _be together. Either the well would keep working, which would be awesome because then Kagome could continue to visit with her family on occasion, or it would not allow either of them passage at all. It would _not _let her pass but then lock Inuyasha out, while trapping her in the future; they could feel it. Even when he'd thought that Kagome was going to return to her own time after the mission was over he hadn't really thought that the well would seal up. He'd thought only that she was going to say her goodbyes, closing that chapter of her life. He'd actually thought that it was possible she might've come back for a visit every now and again, but having also thought that she'd most likely thought of him only as a friend and that there could be nothing romantic between them, he'd figured it would only be a matter of time before she started dating men in her own time. She would've moved on, wanting a normal life, and going back in time certainly wasn't normal and so she would've simply stopped doing it.

Or so he'd once very stupidly thought.

Saying a quick farewell-for-the-time-being to their friends, with the promise that they'd be back in a few days, Kagome and Inuyasha then headed out in search of Kaede, whom they found a short time later walking a path between houses, basket of medicinal herbs in hand.

The elderly miko smiled knowingly as she saw the two approach.

She didn't need to know the details of whatever had transpired during their time alone together to know that _something _obviously had. If not for the way the hanyou and miko had held hands briefly in a moment of shared relief and victory upon learning from her the night before that she could in fact reverse the spell, then the way Inuyasha had repositioned his body after they'd gone to bed to sleep cuddled up in a semi-spooning embrace behind Kagome had sealed the deal.

She would admit, though, to being curious to hear what the couple had to say in that moment, as they drew nearer. It was clearly going to be _good _news, from the happy expressions they both wore, and for that she was grateful, feeling that Inuyasha especially definitely deserved happiness for all the suffering he had previously been forced to endure. Kagome was his godsend, their meeting designed by the kami; of that Kaede had absolutely no doubt.

"Glad to see you two up and about." she greeted then, adjusting the basket she carried. "No lingering ill effects from the tea, I trust?"

"No, Kaede-obaa-chan," Kagome assured, "I did feel a little sick when I first woke up, but it went away quickly."

Inuyasha nodded his agreement.

"Good, good..." the elderly miko answered, adding, "Usually, the longer a person has been under the influence of a memory blocker, the worse they feel upon having the spell removed, so you two were fortunate it had only been a few days."

"A lot can happen in just a few days." Inuyasha mumbled under his breath, although Kaede heard him. She gave the hanyou a knowing smile.

"Indeed it can." she agreed. "Was there something specific you had in mind?"

Kagome sighed, but it was actually more of a whimsical, happy sigh, a twinkle of merriment in her eyes as she decided not to keep the elderly miko waiting any longer.

"Inuyasha and I, we ended up, um...confessing our feelings for each other, while under the influence of that spell." she decided upon tactfully, knowing Kaede was old and wise enough to fill in the blanks with a grandmotherly smile, never longing to know the details like _some _of their friends would undoubtedly try to pester Inuyasha about whenever he thought he could get away with it. That was a worry for another day, however, as Kagome continued her explanation in that moment.

"We'd each had reasons for why we'd previously thought our feelings had been one-sided, but now that we know the truth..." She paused, turning her head to glance Inuyasha's way with a smile.

He grinned her way in return and nodded, before looking back at Kaede.

"Keh, Kagome 'n' me are together now, Kaede, and I really hope you don't got a problem with that, 'cause it ain't gonna change if you do."

Much to the couple's delight, Kaede offered them both a warm, congratulatory smile at Inuyasha's words, before stating, "Quite the contrary, Inuyasha, I find myself believing that perhaps that tengu's memory blocker had been destiny's plot at work. Perhaps this was the kami's way of finally getting you two to see the feelings that even this half blind miko could see."

Her one good eye twinkled with mirth as hanyou and future-born miko both blushed mildly at her teasing.

"Be happy, you two," she continued then, "you deserve it, and you will get no ill wishes from me."

"Thank you, Kaede-obaa-chan." Kagome stated with a little bow of gratitude, before adding, "Inuyasha and I are going to head back to my world for a few days, now; we've already spoken with the others."

Kaede nodded her understanding.

"Then take care, you two. I will see you upon your return to this land."

With that, the elderly miko began heading to the villager's house she had been on her way to before stopping to speak with the pair. Inuyasha offered her a small nod of thanks before heading with Kagome towards the well. When they reached it, he paused and breathed deeply a few times, trying to calm his nerves.

"We don't have to tell Mama anything about the tengu's memory blocking spell, if you don't want to." Kagome offered. "We could just tell her that we've come to realize our feelings for each other, that we told each other how we feel."

"Won't she be curious how it happened all of a sudden like that?"

Kagome just shrugged.

"If she asks me later how this happened, what happened to make me confess my feelings to you, then I can tell her the truth later." she said. "For right now, though, I think she'll just be relieved that we're not coming to her with the news that I'm pregnant. While I don't think she'd be angry, she'd probably be a little disappointed in us, so since we want to take precautions to make sure that _doesn't _happen I imagine she'll be quite pleased. I'm sure she won't be angry that we're together, I'm not still too young for _that_, but I am too young to have a baby in my time, culturally speaking, still going to school as I am. I need to try to finish my education for honor's sake, and well, being pregnant in school, that's a _huge _dishonor."

Inuyasha nodded his understanding.

"I'll gladly call you my wife, Kagome, so such a thing would be no dishonor in this world, but either way I do agree that this is no time for babies. Not until Naraku is dead and the jewel is gone. Not until we have a house to call our own."

Smiling at his words, Kagome reached over and took his hand, something Inuyasha happily complied with as they were alone now in the well clearing, no possible villagers anywhere nearby to see them. Together, they jumped into the well and five hundred years into the future.

Mrs. Higurashi was ecstatic to see her daughter as they walked through the door and immediately asked Kagome how long she would be staying, to which the fifteen-year-old conceded that she'd be staying for a few days, and that she knew she needed to check in with her school and try to get fully caught up with however many past due exams she had to take. She stated vaguely that Inuyasha would be staying with them while she was home and Mrs. Higurashi didn't bat an eyelash, happily inviting Inuyasha to join them for lunch, and the entire family, minus Souta who was currently at school, ate while engaging in upbeat chitchat that caught Kagome up on what all she'd been missing out on in her world, while she in turn told her mother and grandfather a much more vague version of the recent youkai troubles they had encountered and why it had taken her so long to get back home. Her 'vague' retelling of battling that tengu stated only how she and Inuyasha had encountered the youkai they'd then had to fight, and that afterwards they were finally able to catch up with their friends who then informed them that the troubles at Mushin's village were already taken care of, and so they'd then headed back to Kaede's. She told the story so smoothly that had Inuyasha not already been aware of the rather significant portions of the story she'd left out he never would've known how much of the tale she'd omitted. Kagome was a horrible liar, but she'd gotten very good at telling half truths, and an unspoken truth was not a lie.

After her grandfather excused himself to get back to his shrine duties it was then that Kagome confessed to her mother with mild nervousness that she had left a few things out and that she had something else to tell her.

"Oh?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, truly curious and perhaps the tiniest bit worried by Kagome's obvious nervousness. That was, until Kagome smiled Inuyasha's way and took his hand, the hanyou smiling at her daughter in return.

Mrs. Higurashi then broke out into a huge grin, which immediately put the young couple at ease, and then Kagome announced simply, "Inuyasha and I have gotten our feelings out in the open, and Mama...we're together now."

Kagome's mother responded to the news by standing up from her place at the kitchen table and walking around to the other side where her daughter and the hanyou boy were sitting beside one another, stepping up in between the couple and leaning forward to wrap her arms around both of their outer shoulders in a firm embrace.

"This is wonderful news." she stated happily, before releasing her daughter and stepping around to Inuyasha's other side to meet the hanyou's eyes as he turned his head to face away from Kagome and look up to meet her mother's gaze.

"Welcome to the family, Inuyasha." she stated with a warm, wholly approving smile, and he couldn't help it. Inuyasha rose from his chair and hugged the older Higurashi woman.

"You don't know what your acceptance means to me, Higurashi-san." he stated respectfully. "I promise to cherish your daughter for the rest of my life."

Chuckling joyously, Mrs. Higurashi pulled back from the hug and eyed Inuyasha with faux criticism as she stated, "First order of business, I want you to drop that Higurashi-san nonsense." She grinned warmly as she added, "You will call me Mama from now on."

He blushed lightly but nodded.

Mrs. Higurashi then shifted her gaze to her daughter, who stood up away from the table as well.

Kagome could read the hesitant question in her mother's gaze.

"Kagome...are you..." Mrs. Higurashi started before pausing, unsure of exactly how to ask and not wanting to sound too scolding, since obviously whatever was done was done and her disapproval wouldn't change matters.

She was visibly relieved when Kagome offered her a reassuring smile and said, "No Mama, I'm not pregnant, although that _is _part of what we need to discuss."

It was embarrassing for Inuyasha to stand there and receive Mrs. Higurashi's knowing looks as Kagome confessed to her mother how they _were _sexually active, giving him credit in reassuring her mother that because of his canine half he was aware of her fertility cycle and would not have permitted them to do anything had there been a risk of conception. It _was _the truth, and he appreciated the way Kagome's mother nodded his way at her daughter's words, pride in her eyes as if he'd just won extra points with her, but regardless it was still embarrassing. As Kagome explained her desire to go on birth control pills Mrs. Higurashi readily agreed, much to Inuyasha's relief.

She could have theoretically tried to forbid them from being together, but honestly, Mrs. Higurashi knew it was a lost cause. She remembered what it was like to be young and in love, and that they were both being so responsible when it came to avoiding accidental pregnancy, she wanted to reward them for it, not punish them. Her baby girl wasn't a baby girl any longer, and she'd felt in her heart for months now that it was only a matter of time before the two of them came to her with such a confession.

Getting all of those arrangements out of the way while Kagome's grandfather remained none the wiser out in the yard, Mrs. Higurashi promised her daughter not to worry about him, that she'd tell him in a little while. That said, she shooed Kagome off to take a warm bath, something the future-born miko happily complied with, as she and Inuyasha disappeared upstairs to her bedroom, first, to drop off her backpack and grab a change of clothes.

"You can use the wash room after me if you wanted to get cleaned up too." she offered as she rummaged through her dresser drawers, Inuyasha sitting cross legged on her bed.

"Just so long as your little brother doesn't pour the water." he replied with a shudder, thinking back on the time Souta had tried to boil him alive.

Kagome chuckled.

"I'll prepare the tub for you, and then I'll show you how to use the shower controls before leaving you to it." she offered, before a wicked smirk came over her features. "And then tonight, we can work on replacing some of the scents that washed off."

Inuyasha choked lightly, coughing a little at her words as if afraid her mother or grandfather would somehow overhear.

"K-keh..." he managed after a moment, earning a giggle from the miko.

Kagome disappeared out the door after that, to reemerge a little while later smelling clean and wholly of Kagome...except for the faint trace of their joining that was still lingering within her. Taking her up on her offer Inuyasha let her show him how to use the shower controls and a little while later he was clean, himself, and dressed in a baggy pair of sweatpants while Mrs. Higurashi ran a load of laundry. His fire-rat suikan and hakama might've been self-cleaning, but his kosode and fundoshi sure weren't.

Souta went crazy when he got home from school and found not only that his sister was home, but also that she was accompanied by his own personal canine super hero. By that point Mrs. Higurashi had shared the news with Jii-chan, in a slightly modified way that omitted the part about how they were actually sleeping together or that Kagome would be going on the pill. Let him assume what he wanted from the news that Inuyasha and Kagome had confessed their feelings for one another and were now officially boyfriend and girlfriend. Souta was thrilled to learn that little tidbit, and when he asked Inuyasha, in front of Jii-chan, if he was going to marry Kagome someday, the hanyou earned the slightest of nods of approval from the elder Higurashi when without hesitation he responded with "Absolutely."

The next few days were relatively uneventful as Kagome went to school and borrowed notes from her friends, taking a bunch of makeup tests, not to mention her doctor's appointment, accompanied by her mother, so that she could get a certain prescription. Too embarrassed by the thought of her family hearing them Inuyasha ended up politely declining her nightly advances, not that they could go _all _the way anyway since she was going to stick to her own rule of no more sex until the pills had had a chance to kick in, but they did sleep together cuddled up in her bed, fully clothed, and that was good enough for him for the time being.

Once they had everything ready, Kagome's schoolwork all caught up and her backpack stocked full of supplies, plus an extra bag of supplies Inuyasha carried over his shoulder, they were ready to head back to the past and bid her family a temporary farewell. Heading back out on the road with their friends, Inuyasha and Kagome knew the road ahead was going to be a bumpy one, but now, thankfully, knowing where they stood in each other's hearts was at least one less road block on their way to happiness. Nobody knew how long it was going to take to find and kill Naraku, or complete and purify the jewel, but at least Inuyasha and Kagome _did _know how their future was going to play out after those two events finally came to pass. They refused to waste time thinking about the possible negatives, like one of them not surviving the final battle with Naraku, or the slim chance that the well actually would somehow seal up and trap Kagome in the future. Still mentally smacking themselves on the forehead for how they hadn't previously seen it, both hanyou and miko were now fully convinced that they _were _meant to be together, that it was indeed fate, or destiny, or whatever else you wanted to call it that had led up to where they were in that very moment. No matter what the future had in store for them, they would face it, together.

~ Fin ~


End file.
